


eccedentesiast

by lil_pizza_girl



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Bullying, Centric, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Fluff, Hinata just wants to be a good friend, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, KageHina - Freeform, Kageyama is a butthole, Language, M/M, Sad, Tsukishima Needs A Hug, Tsukishima-centric, Yamaguchi is confused, daisuga - Freeform, kurotsukki - Freeform, trigger warning, tsukkiyama - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:28:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26881426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lil_pizza_girl/pseuds/lil_pizza_girl
Summary: eccedentesiastn) someone who hides pain behind a smileit wasn't that kei didn't like hanging out with people, it was that people were never trustworthy. tsukishima had a dark past, and it seems he's finally started to let go of his past inner demons.with a team he can trust, and a caring best friend, tsukishima felt his life was going to get better.the problem was, the universe seemed to hate him.when old trouble comes back to town, tsukishima finds himself lashing out, hurting the people who tsukishima finds dear to him.and not only that, true motives are exposed, leaving tsukishima wondering if anyone had ever loved him.~tsukishima trembled as he bared his teeth in defiance, no longer able to sit and be used and abused like a helpless dog.“i have been chained and betrayed, raped and defiled. do you know what kept me standing through all those many times where i was alone? faith. i will not stand here and let myself be betrayed once more. you want to go to war with me? so be it.”
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Sugawara Koushi/Daichi Sawamura, Tsukishima Kei/Everyone
Comments: 8
Kudos: 37





	1. Chapter 1

serein 

(n.) the fine, light rain that falls from a clear sky at sunset or in the early hours of the night; evening serenity  
-  
tsukishima kept silent as he walked amongst his teammates, their laughter keeping him from fully focusing on his thoughts. 

hinata was busy laughing at kageyama's soaked shirt, an empty coke can and carbonated water all over the ground. 

hinata's high pitched laughter annoyed tsukishima, and he found himself slowing his pace to put distance between his team members. 

tsukishima looked to the sky, smiling faintly.

the cool breeze felt therapeutic as it ran across his face and neck, eyes closing at the comfort. 

tsukishima inhaled deeply, the unique scent of the late night walks as the team walked to the convenient store for meat buns. 

"you're drifting again." 

tsukishima's eyes opened as he looked over to his smaller best friend, the freckles showing through the darkness of the moon beginning to appear in the sky. 

looking forward, tsukishima blinked in surprise at how far ahead the team was, some of them already entering the shop. 

"i didn't notice." tsukishima said honestly. 

a chuckle was heard, and heat engulfed tsukishima's wrist. 

yamaguchi sped ahead, tsukishima's wrist in his palm as he pulled tsukishima along. 

tsukishima didn't pull back as he usually did, the warmth from yamaguchi's hand too inviting. 

the bell hanging above the door dinged as the duo stepped foot in the shop, instantly spotting the other boy's eating their treats. 

"i'll order one for us both." 

with that uttered, yamaguchi was off. 

tsukishima turned, looking for the team's table. 

a booth caught tsukishima's eye, and he found himself walking past the table where his team was seated, ignoring their confused looks as he always did. 

sliding into the booth, tsukishima sighed, looking down towards his hands. 

they were beginning to form callouses, his hands no longer being as they were before. 

tsukishima didn't mind. he had worked hard, even if he had been on the team for only a few months. 

tsukishima heard little drops of water hit the ground from outside, and he looked to see a light shower falling to the ground. 

though the essence of rain was strong within the shop from the open windows, the strong scent of steamed meat buns overpowered his senses, the scent drawing tsukishima’s mouth to water. 

the scent got stronger as the seconds went by, and tsukishima startled when he heard a clatter, his head turning to see yamaguchi standing in front of him with a plate of buns in the center of the table. 

"thought you were going to sit with the team." yamaguchi spoke quietly, glancing towards the window where the visible water droplets were falling before looking to the plate of food in the center of the table. 

"i wanted to eat alone. with you." tsukishima muttered, taking a bite of the steamed bun. 

yamaguchi looked up in suspicion, brown locking eyes with tsukishima's hazel. 

"gomen, tsukki." yamaguchi sighed, taking a bite before picking up his things. 

"where are you going? i didn't say anything bad, did i?" tsukishima asked in masked annoyance, secretly fretting over yamaguchi's sudden departure. 

"no, tsukki. i just need to talk to daichi senpai for a moment." yamaguchi said hurriedly, taking his bag before hurrying to the table with the rest of his team. 

tsukishima blinked in surprise before sighing, tossing his half eaten bun on the plate and dropping his head in his hands. 

had he just messed something up?

tugging at his hair, tsukishima began to rock back and forth quietly in his booth. 

"tsukishima, you really thought i wasn't coming back?" 

words so terrifyingly familiar, tsukishima jumped, eyes widened and blazing, ready to defend himself as he whirled around. 

yamaguchi was staring at him strangely, eyebrows furrowed. 

"what made you jump like that, tsukki?" yamaguchi said with a little laugh, pink painting his cheeks as he slid back into the opposing side of the booth. 

tsukishima laughed at his own stupidity, fists clenching in his lap as he stared down. 

"t-"give it back, hinata boke!" kageyama's deep voice boomed through the entire shop, hinata's surprised cry making tsukishima snicker. 

hinata ran from kageyama, screeching in fear before diving under tsukishima and yamaguchi's table.

tsukishima cringed as he picked up his feet, not wanting to accidentally kick the older. 

"get out from under there, shoyo." sugawara sighed, making sure daichi had a grip on kageyama before pulling hinata out from under the booth. 

hinata sighed dramatically, making sure to keep distance between himself and kageyama. 

"i'm sorry i ate your beat bun." hinata said defeatedly. 

kageyama's clenched fists relaxed, jerking the shorter forward to ruffle his hair. 

"boke." 

the loud-mouthed duo hurried away, and tsukishima cringed as sugawara cooed, turning to daichi. 

"they're like my little children." 

tsukishima playfully gagged, getting up and pulling yamaguchi out of his seat. 

"t-tsukki!" 

"we're leaving, senpais. thank you for the treat, goodnight." both boys bowed before hurrying off, tsukishima's hands pushing yamaguchi out of the shop. 

"slow down, tsukki." yamaguchi giggled, hands pushing on the taller's hands. 

walking in continuous silence, the boys listened to the crickets chirp in the grass sprouting from the concrete roads. 

the moon ahead was shining brightly, and yamaguchi closed his eyes as a light mist fell upon his face. 

"feels good?" tsukishima asked quietly, hands digging deeper into his pocket. 

yamaguchi hummed in agreement, smiling as he looked to the specs in the sky. 

"have you thought of what your job is going to be in the future, tsukki?" yamaguchi asked fondly. 

tsukishima's eyebrows furrowed, looking up to the sky as he began to think of potential interests. 

"no. i haven't exactly given the workforce real thought." tsukishima admitted. 

yamaguchi said nothing, nodding in acknowledgment. 

"and you?" tsukishima asked in sudden curiosity. 

yamaguchi beamed before looking back to the stars, eyes widening to get a full glimpse at the stars. 

"i was thinking going into astronomy. i really like the stars." yamaguchi giggled. 

tsukishima nodded, eyes trailing over yamaguchi. 

on impulse, tsukishima's arm wrapped around yamaguchi's shoulder. 

eyes widened, yamaguchi noticed the close proximity between the two of them. 

"s-stop that, saltyshima." yamaguchi flushed, his cheeks painted in red. 

tsukishima only tightened the grip he had on the shorter, yamaguchi's scent wafting into his nose. 

he smelt sweet, yet tsukishima could smell the scent of sweat from the previous practice. 

"its starting to rain. we should hurry." tsukishima said quickly, breaking into a light run. 

the rain splattered against their skin and hair, their clothes quickly becoming soaked. 

giggling, the two boys ran towards their homes, the parting road a reminder of the separation they temporarily had to face. 

both boys shivering, they looked at each other in fondness before bolting down the parting roads. 

the rain was beginning to pick up, and tsukishima didn't want to catch a cold. 

hurrying to front door, tsukishima scurried inside. 

"tsukishima? what took you so long?" tsukishima's mother appeared from the kitchen, decked in an apron, orange sauce smeared across her gloves. 

"the volleyball senpais wanted to take us out, so we went for steamed buns." tsukishima said, shivering as his skin was flush against his cold school uniform. 

"alright. go upstairs and take a bath. i can see you're shivering." tsukishima's mother said before returning to the kitchen. 

bowing slightly, tsukishima hurried to the bathroom upstairs. 

taking towels from under the counter, tsukishima set them on the sink before undressing, his eyes scanning across his body. 

looking over his torso, tsukishima frowned as his eyes came across an old scar. 

fingers running over the scar, tsukishima looked down, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. 

it had been years since his body was littered with scars. 

shaking his head at the condemning thoughts, tsukishima filled the tub with warm water, adding the strawberry bath salt his mother gave him. 

waiting patiently for the bath to draw full of water, tsukishima ran his hand through the pale pink water, the top of the water becoming frothy. 

humming, tsukishima watched as the water filled the bathtub, admiring the strawberry scent steaming from the tub. 

before the water coming from the faucet could lose it's heat, tsukishima turned off the faucet and lowered himself in the tub, groaning at the water soothing his muscles. 

fully submerging his body till his head was the only part not in the water, tsukishima closed his eyes, head lolling to the wide. 

the soft scent of strawberry made tsukishima drowsy, and he found himself pulling his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs. 

humming lightly, tsukishima drifted in and out of consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tsukishima remembers~

_drapetomania_

n.) an _overwhelming urge to run away_

_tsukishima gasped as liquid suddenly spilled down his face and back, mouth gaping at the sight of his bullies._

_"now at least you'll smell better." the leader snickered, dumping the remaining liquid over tsukishima's head._

_tsukishima blinked back tears as he wiped the pungent sauce from his clothes the best he could , standing and hurrying to the locker room._

_even after all the time tsukishima had been bullied, the insults thrown his way still stung to this day._

_the gym coach's nose wrinkled as he stepped into the lockeroom, pointing to the showers in silent demand._

_tsukishima sniffled as he grabbed a towel and his spare gym uniform, setting them outside the shower on a bench._

_stepping into the shower, tsukishima began to furiously scrub his body with soap._

_shampooing his hair and washing his body with body wash, tsukishima began to sob in frustration at the lingering smell that refused to go away._

_giving up, tsukishima credited himself with removing a quarter of the disgusting scent._

_wiping at his tears, tsukishima slipped on his spare gym uniform, spraying himself with a light coat of body spray._

_"pathetic." tsukishima whimpered, turning and walking down the hall to his next class._

_tsukishima kept his head down, not needing to look up to see that people were staring._

_sliding open the door to the classroom, tsukishima felt humiliated at the disgust filled scoffs and groans at the suffocating smell._

_the teacher briefly glanced his way before his own nose wrinkled._

_sitting down beside his classmate, tsukishima chuckled._

_"it sure stinks, doesn't it?"_

_his classmate said nothing._

_"i tried to wash it off with soap, but the smell-"can you move away?" his classmate scoffed, her eyes glaring into the golden haired boy._

_"oh, sure." tsukishima said defeatedly, picking up his desk and sliding away from the annoyed girl._

_the entire class groaned at the scent, fueling tsukishima's embarrassment._

_"excuse me."_

_one of the boys in tsukishima's class interrupted the teacher's lecture, the older man turning in curiosity of the disruption._

_"it smells funny in here, i think someone farted." the conceited boy said smugly._

_as the entire class erupted with laughter, tsukishima felt the tears in his eyes begin to escape._

_"that's enough. class dismissed. tsukishima, maybe you should go home. no one wants to smell that." the teacher said frustratedly._

_snickers were heard as students left the class while others began packing up._

_tsukishima looked up to see his tormentor smirking at him before walking out the door with his friends._

_looking towards the teacher who was sitting in his desk, scrolling through his phone, tsukishima sighed._

_"sense-"get out of here, tsukishima. i don't want to smell you." the teacher grumbled._

_tsukishima nodded quickly, taking his things and scurrying from the classroom._

_he felt useless._

_walking down the hallway towards his locker, tsukishima bit his lip, noticing all of the lingering and self-righteous stares._

_"he literally smells like waste."_

_"he's so disgusting."_

_"no wonder he doesn't have any friends."_

_"he's trash."_

_"i bet he had half the boys in the school with him when he showered."_

_tsukishima began to cry then and there, in the middle of the hallway._

_"look at him cry."_

_"what a loser."_

_"fags are always the crybabies."_

_students began pushing and shoving tsukishima , and he began to panic._

_"n-no!" tsukishima protested, breaking free from the insulting crowd._

_breaking into a sprint, tsukishima ran for the school's front door._

_like a viper striking small prey, a leg shot out and tripped tsukishima._

_gasping, tsukishima landed with a thud and instantly winced at the burn within his ankle._

_the school was laughing at him, and tsukishima began to sob even louder._

_"tsukishima...,"_

_"tsukishima...,"_

_"tsukishima!!"_

-

tsukishima gasped as his body flailed, cold water instantly being the first thing his body registered.

his mother was hovering over him, her face showing nothing but concern.

"you were in here for thirty minutes, i didn't know if something was wrong."

"no, mom. i just fell asleep. can you go? it's quite cold and i want to get out of the water." tsukishima said softly.

nodding, his mother was out of the room quickly, and as soon as the door shut, tsukishima hurried out of the tub before pulling the drain.

wrapping himself in a towel, tsukishima frowned at the memory he had dreamed while in his sleep.

that had been so long ago, he didn't want to remember those times.

when he was too weak to defend himself.

tsukishima frowned further at the thought, quickly dressing himself and hurrying downstairs.

"your food was getting cold." tsukishima's mother said as she set a plate down in front of tsukishima.

"imagine if you had been drowned while asleep in the bath." she scolded.

"but i didn't, mother. i was just tired." tsukishima sighed.

with a frustrated groan, his mother had sat down beside him and leaned forward, her nose grazing along tsukishima's neck.

"you smell good."

tsukishima faintly smiled at the compliment, his love for strawberries evident in his fresh scent.

"thank you."

eating in silence, tsukishima sighed as he tried to push the old memory out of his head.

that had been in his old middle school days.

this was high school.

he had grown up.

"what's on your mind, tsukishima? you seem troubled."

tsukishima looked towards his mother before shaking his head.

"nothing. i'm finished. goodnight." tsukishima sighed as he placed his dish in the sink and scampered upstairs.

passing his older brother's room, tsukishima frowned.

it had been a while since akiteru left for college, and tsukishima felt the familiar bitterness towards his brother make an appearance.

sighing, tsukishima hurried to his room and pulled the sheets to his bed back.

climbing under the sheets, tsukishima looked to the ceiling.

the frosty white usually distracted him, but his mind was elsewhere.

tears sprung to tsukishima's eyes as his dream forced its way back into the front of his mind.

hastily wiping his eyes, tsukishima forced the memory out of his head once more.

it seemed the memory was so stubborn in leaving his head, and tsukishima whined lowly in frustration.

he didn't want to be reminded of his past.

his past were his inner demons that had been long silenced.

if they came back, tsukishima felt he wouldn't be able to pull through twice.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tsukishima spends some time with yamaguchi~

elysian 

n.) beautiful or creative; divinely inspired; peaceful and perfect 

yamaguchi hummed as he ran a paintbrush across his canvas, white blending in with a deep shade of blue. 

"that looks really good, yamaguchi. keep up the good work." the art teacher commented before moving down the isle to look at other student's paintings. 

yamaguchi nodded in gratitude before glancing towards tsukishima's painting. 

while yamaguchi's was a lively mix of colors to create a sunrise, tsukishima's was a mix of dark colors to make something unknown.

"psst, tsukki! what's your painting?" yamaguchi whispered, looking towards the dark artwork nosily. 

"it's..not anything." tsukishima said emotionlessly as he swirled mahogany paint against a raven black.

yamaguchi frowned as he watched tsukishima dip his brush into white and smacked it against the canvas, specks of white splattering across the mysterious painting.

"have you ever thought of someone coming out of a dark place?" tsukishima asked, eyes glancing towards yamaguchi. 

"i guess." yamaguchi laughed, turning to his own painting and began to blend the different hues of blue together. 

"have you ever thought of someone desperately trying to grasp the ray of hope that dangled across their face?" tsukishima commented, tapping his white brush against the canvas twice before dipping it in a deep shade of hickory. 

yamaguchi blinked in confusion as he watched tsukishima smear the dark paint across the white. 

"you're not making much sense, tsukishima." yamaguchi said with a sigh, turning to his own painting and continued blending, adding more paint here and there. 

tsukishima blinked before sighing, frustratedly beginning to shape his paint into what could be described as a darkened fireball. 

"sorry. no one ever gets it when i say stuff like that." tsukishima said with an honest chuckle.

yamaguchi gripped his paintbrush tighter, sighing as he dipped it in teal paint. 

"you know if something's bothering you, you need to tell me." yamaguchi said, furiously blending the different hues of oranges, blues, and purple colors together. 

"sure." tsukishima said modestly, eyeing his work with a unreadable face. 

finishing up with the blending, yamaguchi smiled at his finished artwork. 

"i like your painting, yamaguchi." tsukishima commented as he continued to shape his painting. 

"thanks tsukishima, is that a fireball?" yamaguchi said in surprise.

tsukishima nodded, a small smile on his face as he continued to smooth the colors together. 

yamaguchi smiled as he stepped closer to tsukishima, eyes trailing over his apron. 

"you're filthy, tsukishima." yamaguchi laughed, pointing towards the random splatters of paint across his apron. 

"it was like this when i got it." tsukishima snickered, pulling at the dirty clothing. 

"sure." yamaguchi said sarcastically, taking the paintbrush from tsukishima's hand and took his tray of paints. 

"you're just swirling it around randomly. you gotta add color to wear it pops. what color do you want the fireball?" 

tsukishima's eyebrows furrowed at the shorter's words, and he sighed. 

"blue to black." 

yamaguchi hummed in acknowledgment before he dipped his brush in admiral paint, and stroked the liquid pigment lightly across the canvas. 

"you gotta be careful, tsukki." yamaguchi chuckled as he mixed azure, lapis, and berry paint together to make another shade of deep blue. 

"i'm just no good at painting, not like you are." tsukishima said quietly as he watched yamaguchi make the finishing touches to the blue fireball. 

giggling, yamaguchi stepped back to admire his addition to tsukishima's work. 

"looks good." tsukishima commented. 

yamaguchi beamed in thanks before returning to his own canvas, looking over the blended sunrise. 

"yamaguchi, i know we haven't exactly spent much time together apart from practice and getting steamed buns with the team, so i was wondering if you'd want to come with me to that kitten café down town?" tsukishima asked hopefully. 

yamaguchi paused before turning and smiled teasingly. 

"i didn't know you were such a softie, tsukki." 

bristling, tsukishima blushed as he turned away. 

"sure thing, though. i'd be happy to go." yamaguchi said happily. 

"okay." tsukishima said cheerfully.

calling over the teacher to evaluate their final works, both boys were pleased to receive perfect marks. 

class was soon dismissed, and both boys found themselves on the roof, digging into their bentos. 

with a mouthful of rice, yamaguchi glanced towards tsukishima's bento before he choked in surprise. 

tsukishima had just lifted a petite pink cake to his open mouth, and he jumped at yamaguchi's outburst.

tsukishima groaned as his cake fell from his chopsticks, landing on the floor with a light "thunk!"

"why'd you scare me, yamaguchi?" tsukishima grumbled. 

yamaguchi giggled, shrugging as he smeared the splattered pink cake into the ground. 

"i was gonna eat that." 

"you have more, tsukishima." yamaguchi sighed, eyeing several more cakes in tsukishima's bento. 

"so?" tsukishima pouted, scooping up another pink cake and popping it in his mouth. 

"pig." yamaguchi snickered as tsukishima struggled to chew the cake. 

"that cake is tiny, how could it possibly not fit in your mouth?" yamaguchi laughed.

tsukishima looked thoughtful before shrugging. 

"i guess i have a miniature mouth." tsukishima said honestly before shoveling another cake in his mouth. 

yamaguchi chuckled before quickly picking up a piece of tsukishima's cake and hurling it in his mouth. 

tsukishima gaped at the sudden theft, and yamaguchi cringed at the pink mush in his open mouth. 

"close your mouth, tsukki. you look like hinata." 

tsukishima glared as he closed his mouth and finished chewing. 

yamaguchi loved the heavenly taste of the strawberry pastry in his mouth. 

"this tastes good, tsukishima." yamaguchi said, eyes half closed dreamily.

tsukishima kept silent, eyes trained on the cake resting between his chopsticks. 

swallowing the remainder of the previous cake, tsukishima carefully bit off a half of the pastry, not wanting to choke on the cake if he ate it in it's entirety. 

"do you want to ditch?" yamaguchi asked out of the blue. 

tsukishima paused, halting his movement of chewing the cake of his mouth. 

"ditch...?" tsukishima asked dumbly in disbelief, eyes widened.

yamaguchi sighed, swallowing the last bit of cake in his mouth. 

"yes tsukki. ditch." 

tsukishima's expression was surprise, yet a small smile crept along his face. 

"yeah." 

"we can go to the cafe that you wanted to go to right now." yamaguchi's said teasingly. 

tsukishima blushed and nodded, hurriedly packing up his bento and anxiously waiting by the door for yamaguchi. 

tapping his foot impatiently, tsukishima quickly grew frustrated at yamaguchi's slow pace. 

"can you hurry?" tsukishima asked in annoyance, pushing his glasses further up his nose. 

yamaguchi clicked his tongue in disproval as he carefully placed his bento in his bag, not wanting food dumped within his bag if he threw it inside lopsidedly. 

tsukishima sighed impatiently, looking towards yamaguchi expectantly. 

the walk to the cafe was long, both boys not wanting to be seen leaving on a bus in fear they would get detention. 

kicking his feet against the sidewalk, tsukishima looked to the sky, admiring the blue sky with different light hues of white clouds above. 

the clouds ranged from white to a slightly darkened cream colored ivory, and tsukishima found himself in awe of them all. 

"your about to step off the sidewalk, tsukki." 

looking down, tsukishima gulped when he saw his foot on the very edge of the sidewalk. 

"shut up, yamaguchi." tsukishima muttered, moving over to the middle of the sidewalk. 

giggling, yamaguchi beamed when the familiar looking cafe came into view. 

forcing their feet to walk faster in excitement, yamaguchi sighed a breath of relief when reaching the building. 

"i heard their strawberry shortcake is even better, tsukishima." yamaguchi chirped as he opened the door for tsukishima. 

"i was thinking of getting that, i'm not so sure though."

instantly, the smell of coffee beans and fine pastries filled both boy's noses.

tsukishima deeply inhaled the scent of coffee as he chose a cosy looking booth for the two of them. 

sliding into the booth, tsukishima drummed his fingers across the table, eyes excitedly scanning over to the displayed pastries across the cafe. 

a waitress greeted both boys cheerfully, handing them a menu before hurrying away to greet more customers. 

tsukishima flipped to the section with strawberries, eyes excitedly scanning down the rows while yamaguchi looked through the drinks. 

"have you decided?" yamaguchi asked tiredly, his mind set on getting mint tea and mint chocolate chip cookies. 

tsukishima nodded enthusiastically, closing his menu and thought of what his shortcake would taste like. 

"you've been pretty bubbly lately, tsukishima." yamaguchi smirked. 

tsukishima flushed, looking away from yamaguchi and over to the waitress coming to take their orders. 

quickly ordering their pastries and drinks, the waitress scooped up their menus and hurried to the kitchen to prepare their orders. 

tsukishima sat in silence, listening to the lively chatter within the shop. 

"what do you think about volleyball, tsukishima?" yamaguchi asked slowly. 

tsukishima looked up in surprise before chuckling, his eyes returning to his hands. 

"i think it's cool. i'd like to go pro one day." tsukishima admitted, perking up when he scent of strawberries and mint wafted in his nose. 

glancing towards the middle of the cafe, tsukishima sighed in relief as the waitress carried their pastries and drinks over. 

setting a plate of shortcake down with a strawberry tea in front of tsukishima, the waitress smiled in gratitude as tsukishima thanked her. 

yamaguchi smiled in thanks as the waitress placed his mint cookies and tea in front of him. 

bowing politely, the waitress hurried off as both boys practically drooled at the irresistible scents of the pastries. 

yamaguchi felt warmth spread through him as he sipped on his steaming tea, the borderline hot beverage warming his esophagus as it traveled towards his stomach. 

"you like it?" yamaguchi asked in amusement from tsukishima's shortcake stuffed mouth. 

nodding hastily, tsukishima tried his hardest to smile. 

yamaguchi giggled, eyeing a strawberry on the corner of tsukishima's pastry. 

yamaguchi hurriedly grabbed the stray strawberry, laughing at tsukishima's forlorn expression. 

"you didn't stop me." yamaguchi said tauntingly. 

tsukishima's eyes narrowed playfully before stealing a cookie from yamaguchi's plate. 

laughing at yamaguchi's sudden outcry, tsukishima hurriedly shoved the cookie in his mouth. 

"you never gave me the chance to."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hinata rescues tsukishima from some potential bullies, yet he snaps.

athazagoraphobia

n.) the fear of forgetting, being forgotten or ignored, or being replaced

tsukishima felt as if dumbbells were resting on his back in pairs, the weight of the shame he felt nearly unbearable.

sweat poured down his forehead as he was hunched over on the bench, a damp cloth wrapped around his neck.

his game had been off during this match, and he had been benched by ukai.

ukai and sugawara has told him that it wasn't a big deal, that everyone had their off days, but tsukishima couldn't lift his head.

he had absolutely humiliated himself.

sighing frustratedly, tsukishima took a long swig of water, gulping the chilled liquid eagerly before raising the bottle above his head and squeezing the bottle tightly.

water sprayed from the bottle, the sensation of near frozen liquid splashing over his head sent chills down tsukishima's spine.

senses sharpened, tsukishima looked up towards the opponents bench.

several bench warmers were staring at him.

some emotionlessly, some hateful.

tsukishima wasn't one to be intimidated, but something about the stares he was being given made him want to hide himself away.

quickly receiving permission from ukai, tsukishima kept his head down as he left the gym, slipping into the hallway of the school.

hand digging into his track pocket for loose change, tsukishima scurried towards a cold-drink vending machine.

instantly spotting strawberry milk, tsukishima's mouth began to water as he quickly pulled several coins from his pocket.

sliding the change through the money slot, tsukishima pressed the button and watched impatiently as the money processed, the drink beginning to slide forward before dropping to the bottom of the machine.

pulling the milk from within the bottom section of the vendor, tsukishima hurriedly tore the straw from the side of the carton.

turning around, tsukishima nearly dropped his milk in shock as he realized he was being cornered by three members of the opposing team, their expressions stone cold.

"your game was terrible, blondie." the shortest one spoke, an obvious delinquent.

his hair was dyed sangria, shaved on the sides with piercings littering his ears.

tsukishima had never been so offended in his life.

tsukishima himself had been benched for the last quarter, but these boys had been benched for the entire game.

who were they to talk so poorly of him?

"you're the ones to talk. at least i got to play, unlike you talentless goons." tsukishima sneered.

his milk was suddenly slapped out of his hand and crushed underneath this sole of a volleyball shoe, the pink liquids shooting from the little hole in the top of the carton.

"you're nothing without your team. who are you to disrespect us? you're nothing and you'll never be anything." the tallest one spoke, his long black hair falling in front of his face.

with a heaving shove, tsukishima was sprawled across the floor, the pushing offender towering over him.

tsukishima wondered where this scene was so familiar.

the memories of his past quickly reminded him, and tsukishima found his arms beginning to raise above his head pleadingly, the only hope of his tormentors leaving him alone.

"hey!" a shrill outcry boomed through the hallway, and tsukishima felt even worse knowing who it was.

the sound of thudding footsteps were the only thing heard over tsukishima's trembling breaths.

"you good, tsukishima? i saw them messing with you. sugawara sent me to check on you."

hinata's voice wasn't loud and eager as it usually was.

it was careful and unsure.

tsukishima knew hinata was pitying him after what he had seen.

that made him terribly angry.

"don't come over here and pity me, hinata. i don't need that from you." tsukishima sneered as he got to his feet.

hinata's eyes widened.

"i-i wasn't-"i know you hinata! that's what you always do! you always treat me like i'm some kind of freak!" tsukishima bellowed angrily.

hinata began to tear up, taking a few steps back from the shouting boy.

"and now you're gonna cry. absolutely weak. the only place you'll ever fit in his with kageyama. you can do absolutely nothing without him. what's gonna happen if he moves away? how much do you plan on dragging us down then?" tsukishima roared.

"that's enough!"

tsukishima turned his head to see yamaguchi staring at him furiously.

"i-"i don't want to hear it, tsukishima. i'm disappointed in you." yamaguchi said sternly, ignoring the spluttering boy.

tsukishima watched in regret as yamaguchi ushered the smaller boy away from the hallway, the small sobs coming from hinata breaking his own heart.

tsukishima glanced towards the spilt milk before following the other two first years, fists clenched tightly.

the bus ride home was tense between all four first years, kageyama having been told what had been said.

tsukishima didn't need to turn around to see kageyama glaring at him.

he could already feel the burn on the back of his head.

sitting alone in the front of the bus, tsukishima began to tear up in regret, his bottom lip caught between his teeth.

blinking rapidly, tsukishima began to shake, little whimpers beginning to slip through his mouth.

fingers intertwined with his, and tsukishima turned hastily to find kiyko's soft face starting at him in concern.

tsukishima shivered, trying to pull his hand away from the third year, yet her fingers tightened in his, making it unbearable to escape her grip.

tsukishima turned to ask her to let go, but his plea caught in his throat as he noticed her own eyes heldtears.

tsukishima stared at kiyoko in disbelief.

the tears running down her face seemed so forbidden.

quietly choking back a sob, kiyoko relaxed her head against tsukishima's shoulder, her hand squeezing tsukishima's unbearably tight.

returning the gesture, tsukishima relaxed, his own head resting upon hers in saddened acknowledgment.

the ride home was silent, and the forlorn party slipped into sleep.

-

tsukishima slowly opened his eyes as he felt himself being shaken, the first thing in his line of vision being nishinoya's angry face.

"what have you done with our queen?" tanaka bellowed angrily, startling kiyoko awake in the process.

tsukishima blinked in confusion, his eyes scanning across the bus at every inhabitant.

the three other first years were staring in bewilderment at him and kiyoko, even yachi looked like tsukishima was some kind of bug to her.

"guys-"you've taken her from us!" noya screeched angrily.

tsukishima squirmed uneasily, glancing towards kiyko for help, but he felt worse as he realized she looked just as helpless as he did.

"i'm not anyone's possession!" kiyoko shouted, yanking her bag off the floor and grabbed onto tsukishima's shirt collar.

noya and tanaka spluttered apologies as kiyoko dragged tsukishima from the bus.

tsukishima blinked rapidly, the light from outside the gym making his eyes ache.

"i'm sorry for yelling, tsukishima." kiyoko said tiredly, her blue eyes holding sincerity and exhaustion.

tsukishima said nothing, nodding in acceptance.

"i let you come with me because i didn't want you to have to deal with their nagging. i know they can be frustrating sometimes, but they do care for you." kiyoko assured, squeezing tsukishima's wrists tightly.

tsukishima nodded before looking down, trying to find the right words to let her know he was okay too.

"i said some really...mean things to hinata." tsukishima admitted, eyes looking towards kiyoko nervously in fear of her getting angry.

kiyoko showed no hostility towards him, nodding to get tsukishima to continue.

"yamaguchi got mad at me, and now kageyama knows. they're never gonna want to have anything to do with me again. i know i act cold sometimes, but i do value everyone here." tsukishima admitted dejectedly.

kiyoko's sudden laughter caught tsukishima off guard, perplexed at how kiyko could possibly laugh at him in a situation like this.

"you think they won't forgive you and they hate you, but i assure you if you ask them to forgive you, they will. they wouldn't hold a grudge over something like this, as bad as it may have been."

kiyoko's words were nothing but wisdom, and tsukishima was thankful to have a manager like her.

"thank you." tsukishima said, feeling as if an enormous weight had been lifted from his body.

kiyoko smiled before heading off to find yachi to speak with her.

tsukishima stood still for a moment before beginning to hurry home.

-

tsukishima sat in his desk, his head resting upon his palm.

it was monday afternoon, and he had tried to apologize to hinata, but kageyama had cut him off and hurried away with the smaller boy, yamaguchi in tow.

tsukishima didn't understand why yamaguchi was ignoring him. he hadn't wronged him in any way hadhe?

glancing towards yamaguchi's desk, tsukishima sighed at his best friend's lean back.

the door to the classroom opened, and the headmaster of karasuno walked into the room.

"class four, you have a new student. please welcome him."

every curious eye in the class looked towards the open door, and tsukishima found himself squinting in sudden confusion.

the boy was tall and lean, his hair neatly styled.

he looked familiar.

where had tsukishima seen him before?

tsukishima's breath caught in his throat as memories flashed through his head.

he remembered.

_"just remember, you think you can get away, but i'll always come find you. you're my little possession."_

"my name is akuma. nice to meet you all." the tall boy smiled, his perfect white teeth on full display as he looked through all the students in his new class before his eyes stopped on one singular being.

tsukishima's hands gripped the edge of his desk, eyes wide as if he was prey being stared down by the predator.

akuma smiled slyly.

one thought ran wild through his head.

i found him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tsukishima’s worst nightmare comes into fruition~

_solivagant_

_n.) wonders alone_

_tsukishima clenched his fists, knuckles turning snow white from how tightly his fists were strained._

_akuma was smirking at him, his two best friends behind him._

_"do you realize that even if you move away, that won't stop me from finding you, right?"_

_tsukishima bit his lip, trying his hardest not to cry._

_"poor thing, he's about to cry akuma!" akio laughed._

_tsukishima glared at the boy behind akuma before his eyes darted to his main tormenter._

_"you can say that, but i pity you for wanting to do so. it only shows you don't have your own life. you only want to mess with me because you're helpless." tsukishima fired at akuma._

_if tsukishima expected akuma to get angry, he was disappointed at the calm look on his face._

_akuma remained silent before he turned to akio, a smug "take him behind the curtain," slipping through his lips._

_hands wrenched themselves through tsukishima's hair, and he found himself gasping as he was dragged to the corner of the room and shoved behind the curtain._

_heat burned across tsukishima's cheek as he was slapped, a shrill crack sounding through the empty classroom._

_"you need to learn." akuma smirked before taking out his phone, nodding to the two other boys to do his bidding as he began to record._

_tsukishima began to silently cry as his clothing was steadily ripped as he was pushed and shoved, punched and spit on._

_the bell rang, and tsukishima thanked the one in the heavens in hope of being able to escape._

_the torment didn't stop even as students began to fill the class, and it was then did tsukishima realize no one was going to help him._

_hands were ripping at his clothing, and tsukishima frantically shoved at the harsh grip akio had on him._

_successfully shoving away the savaging hands, tsukishima bolted from behind the curtain._

_no one in class had helped him, and tsukishima felt the message was pretty clear._

_running down the hallway, face overrun with tears, it was obvious no one was ever going to stand up for him._

_he was completely alone._

_ - _

tsukishima hurried down the hallway to the roof above, praying that yamaguchi would be up there.

climbing the stairs as quickly as possible, tsukishima tore open the door to the roof, coming face to face with the three other first years and the devil himself.

akuma was staring at him innocently, lifting a piece of sushi to his mouth as yamaguchi stood in surprise.

"i didn't think i'd see you here, tsukki." yamaguchi said carefully.

tsukishima cursed as akuma's eyebrows raised, knowing yamaguchi had just confirmed that tsukishima was indeed the boy that akuma had kept his sick promise to.

"did you not want me to eat with you?" tsukishima snapped, fists clenched in anger.

"n-no. that's not it. i just thought you'd have somewhere else to be." yamaguchi said sheepishly.

tsukishima's teeth clenched as he got the supposed message yamaguchi was trying to let him know.

he wasn't wanted here.

"let him stay! i want to get to know him." akuma said quietly, almost innocently, but tsukishima could see the dark gleam within his eyes.

"what's the point if i'm not wanted here?" tsukishima said coldly, eyes staring yamaguchi down with disapproval.

"i'd like to talk to yamaguchi. alone." tsukishima said sternly, his furious eyes drilling into yamaguchi's fearful ones.

yamaguchi didn't need to listen to his friend's objections at the suggestion to get up.

he owed it to the blond.

excusing himself from the others, yamaguchi quickly followed tsukishima downstairs from the roof and into the hallway.

"what's this about, tsukishima?" yamaguchi asked uncertainly.

"why are you avoiding me, yamaguchi? i get that hinata and kageyama might be mad at me, but i never expected that from you."

"i-i'm not avoiding you!" yamaguchi stammered, but he was looking away from tsukishima's face, a sure sign he wasn't telling the truth.

"i've tried to apologize to hinata, but you always pull him away from me before i get the chance." tsukishima said frustratedly.

tears began to fill yamaguchi's eyes and tsukishima's fists clenched.

"w-well kageyama said that maybe we can distance ourselves from you, so we c-can make you come to us-"and that's exactly what i tried to do! what kind of friend are you? to do this to me? you're my best friend! not his!" tsukishima ranted.

yamaguchi realized he had done wrong, and he desperately wanted to make it up to tsukishima.

"i-i know a-and i'm sorry! i never meant to hurt you!" yamaguchi cried.

tsukishima's fists clenched.

he didn't like the distressed cries coming from his best friend.

even if he had made him upset, his intentions weren't to hurt the one person who truly meant something to him on the earth.

"look, i'm not mad. i just didn't understand why you went along with something that you know would hurt me." tsukishima sighed.

yamaguchi felt his cheeks burn, wringing his hands together.

"i'm not so sure myself. i regret doing it though, and i'm sorry." yamaguchi admitted.

tsukishima heard the sincerity in yamaguchi's voice, and he felt terrible for making his friend feel this way, even if he had hurt him even worse.

"i forgive you." tsukishima spoke quietly, smiling at the shy smile spreading across yamaguchi's face.

"thank you."

the two boys basked in a comforting silence before yamaguchi opened his mouth to say something else.

"i'm supposed to show akuma around today. maybe you couldn't help?" yamaguchi asked pleadingly.

the comfort tsukishima felt was ripped away instantly by the thought of being anywhere near akuma.

"please?" yamaguchi begged, his eyes widening in a cute pout.

"..."

"yamaguchi! kageyama told me i could find you here!"

tsukishima's fists clenched in unease as akuma walked over cheerfully and slung his arm over yamaguchi's shoulder.

jealousy burned through tsukishima as he noticed how fondly yamaguchi had beamed at the other boy as if he had known him for years.

yamaguchi didn't know the past of his supposed new friend.

"maybe me and tsukishima could show you around the school! you've only been here an hour right?" yamaguchi giggled.

akuma nodded and glanced blamelessly to the blond.

"i think i'll pass." tsukishima said slyly, shooting akuma a distrustful glance.

akuma smirked briefly before pouting, turning to yamaguchi.

"make your friend come! i want to know all about him!"

tsukishima's fists tightened, the pale skin turning icy white from how harshly he was clenching the muscles in his hands.

"i think you've been outnumbered, tsukki. let's get going!" yamaguchi chirped, linking arms with akuma's.

tsukishima's teeth clenched tightly as he followed the two boys.

yamaguchi began to talk hurriedly with akuma, eyes sparkling as they normally did when he was speaking to tsukishima.

noticing the fondness between the two boys, tsukishima couldn't help but become jealous.

yamaguchi knew nothing of tsukishima's past, and he intended to keep yamaguchi in the dark.

he just hoped akuma wouldn't mess it up for him.

"what club are you and tsukishima in, yamaguchi?" akuma asks sweetly, eyes briefly glancing back towards tsukishima.

"tsukishima and i are both in volleyball!" yamaguchi exclaimed happily.

akuma's deep voice raised a few octaves as he laughed at yamaguchi's statement, hands tightening around the freckle faced male.

yamaguchi suddenly gasped, eyes widening and mouth gaping in sudden shock.

"i just remembered! i have a meeting with one of my teachers!"

yamaguchi waved a goodbye to akuma and tsukishima before hurrying off.

tsukishima's fists clenched in his uniform pockets as akuma turned towards him, face impassive.

"aren't we gonna finish this tour?"

tsukishima gulped as he nodded, beginning to walk quickly towards the theater room, beginning to sweat nervously.

"your school is very nice, tsukishima."

the said boy grimaced in suspicion, pushing open the doors to the theater.

"thank you."

stepping into the darkened theater, tsukishima suddenly felt like prey.

"did you think i wasn't keep my promise?"

tsukishima could feel akuma's fiery breath on his neck, and he found shivers shooting down his body.

"you could have come earlier. you were never one to be so desperate." tsukishima said quietly.

tsukishima could practically hear the smirk in akuma's voice as he spoke, "we're going to have a lot of fun together, tsukishima."

tsukishima whirled around, instantly withdrawing as he noticed how close akuma was to him.

"you can say and do as you please. but like i said in the past, you're pathetic enough to mess with me because you don't have your own life." tsukishima said icily.

as always, akuma remained calm, yet he began to step forward until he was only an inch from tsukishima's face.

"you think i'm just going to forget about you? no, i'm not. because i enjoy making your life a living hell. just because it's been a few years doesn't mean i'll take pity upon you. get ready, tsukishima. i'm going to make sure you wish you killed yourself when you had the chance." akuma spoke sadistically.

tsukishima gasped as his head was wrenched back, slender fingers carded tightly through his hair.

"do you understand me?" akuma growled.

tsukishima gasped in pain as akuma tightened his hold on the blond locks, tears beginning to form in tsukishima's eyes.

a low whine slipped through tsukishima's mouth, a single tear falling from tsukishima's eye.

"yes." tsukishima said quietly.

instantly, the tight hold on tsukishima's hair loosened, and he found his cheek being stroked.

"that's my boy. i always loved when you were so submissive." akuma purred before retracting his hand at the sound of footsteps approaching the theater.

"i'm back!"

tsukishima hurriedly wiped his tears away as yamaguchi wrapped an arm around both of them.

"did you guys miss me?" yamaguchi chirped.

akuma laughed and began to pull yamaguchi away, tsukishima having no choice but to follow from the death grip yamaguchi had on him.

tsukishima knew he was about to cry, and he didn't want yamaguchi to see that.

"i-i'm g-going to the bathroom." tsukishima stammered before he ripped himself from yamaguchi's grasp.

"okay. want us to wait for you?" yamaguchi asked in concern.

tsukishima rapidly shook his head before he hurried to the nearest bathroom in the hallway, a single hand covering his mouth in fear of making a sound.

pushing open the door to the bathroom, tsukishima hurried to a stall and shut the door quickly.

tsukishima could only hear silence, and he tried his best to keep it that away, yet the fear and frustration caused sobs to be ripped from his throat.

tears made their way down his cheeks like a waterfall, and tsukishima began to tremble as he kneeled down into a crouch.

tsukishima tugged on his hair, wincing as he pulled to hard on his sensitive scalp.

tsukishima couldn't believe akuma was back.

what was he going to do?

tsukishima quieted his cries as he heard someone enter the bathroom.

low whistling sounded through the bathroom, and tsukishima cursed lowly as he realized who it was.

"tsukishima?"

tsukishima slowly exited the stall, eyes trained on the raven haired setter.

"what."

kageyama kept his face impassive as he stepped forward.

"i don't want you near hinata."

tsukishima's face paled, fists clenching.

"if hinata comes here and tells me that, i'll consider it."

kageyama's face hardened as his face own fists clenched.

"king, don't tell me what to do. especially don't tell me to do something that's going to rip this team apart. i thought you would understand that, but you're just as stupid as hinata. maybe all you're good for is playing volleyball too." tsukishima snarled as he stormed past kageyama, leaving the bathroom.

kageyama stood still, his entire body tense before he slowly relaxed.

"so be it." kageyama smirked.


	6. Chapter 6

_n.) calm and peaceful; happy and prosperous_

_the breeze felt comforting to kageyama as he walked along the boardwalk, hinata by his side._

_the salty scent of ocean water seemed overbearing to kageyama's nose, yet he couldn't bring himself to care as he stared down at hinata._

_the shorter orange-haired male was laughing as he wiped cream from his nose, peach ice cream melting slowly in his hand from his cone._

_"watch out, boke!" kageyama exclaimed as hinata nearly tumbled off the edge of boardwalk into the raging water below._

_hinata gasped as kageyama pulled him into his chest, the grip kageyama had around his waist nearly bruising._

_"..."_

_"..."_

_the duo stared at each other, faces uncertain before they quickly separated, hinata looking down as he licked at his soft serve._

_"you can't be so clumsy, hinata." kageyama chastened, tone forceful yet his eyes were widened in concern._

_"i know, kageyama. i'm sorry." hinata grumbled, silently relishing in the fresh taste of his icy treat._

_silence overtook both boys once more as they walked along the boardwalk, listening to the seagulls._

_eventually, kageyama grew curious with a single question._

_"what did you think when tsukishima talked down to you?"_

_hinata glanced towards kageyama before his eyes dropped down to the gliding waters below._

_hinata looked thoughtful for a moment before he slowly looked back up to kageyama._

_"i guess it just hurt because he hit an insecurity. he hasn't tried to apologize to me either." hinata admitted honestly._

_kageyama hummed, nodding his head slowly as he slowly intertwined his hand with hinata's._

_hinata smiled tiredly at kageyama before looking down to his ice cream._

_"would you like to finish my ice cream, kageyama? i'm full." hinata asked politely._

_kageyama blinked at hinata for a moment before carefully taking the half eaten treat away from the smaller boy._

_hinata licked at the sticky cream between his fingers as kageyama got a taste of the ice cream._

_kageyama's nose wrinkled in disgust as he tried his hardest not to gag at the overbearing taste._

_"what is this? how can you stand to eat this? it's disgusting." kageyama grumbled, forcing himself to take another lick._

_"it's peach. you said i could get whatever i wanted as long as it wasn't too expensive. and you wanted the rest of it, so you need to eat it."_

_kageyama grumbled as he shoved the ice cream back towards hinata, the shorter male gasping as ice cream was smeared across his face._

_"you-,"_

_kageyama's laugh was cut short as a sticky hand smacked him in the face, pale orange cream splattered across his skin._

_"don't even think about trying anything else. you deserved it." hinata grumbled as he tossed the crushed cone in the trash._

_"rightfully so." kageyama laughed as he stopped to pick up some napkins from a small shop along the boardwalk._

_the two boys walked along the boardwalk in silence, their fingers lazily intertwined as they admired the warm colored water._

_the sun was setting above, and kageyama glanced towards hinata once again._

_kageyama wasn't one to hold grudges, but when it came to the one he was called to protect, he'd do anything to keep him safe._

_even if it meant teaming with the enemy_.

-

tsukishima smiled softly as yamaguchi looked through several flavored types of bread, eyes wide in surprise as he looked through the variety of flavors.

"i'm assuming you're buying strawberry, right?" yamaguchi looked over his shoulder towards tsukishima.

tsukishima nodded as he strolled towards the drink isle, looking around until he found the tea section.

tsukishima heard faint whistling and thought nothing of it, eyes scanning through the flavors of tea.

strawberry immediately caught his eye and tsukishima reached out to grab it before another flavor caught his eye.

"jasmine chamomile?" tsukishima muttered lowly to himself as he silently took the package from the shelf and looked over it.

"it's supposedly good-,"

tsukishima whirled around to come face to face with akuma, his mouth dropping in shock.

"h-how did you know i was here?" tsukishima exclaimed.

akuma smirked before shoving tsukishima out of the way, looking over the beverages.

"i have my ways. and don't worry. i won't hurt you." akuma commented as he grabbed a package of tea.

tsukishima didn't know whether to be relieved or suspicious.

the flavor description caught tsukishima's eye, and he found himself trying not to speak up.

akuma smirked knowingly at tsukishima's torn expression, noticing he was staring intently at the tea package clutched in his hand.

"you got something to say, kei?" akuma asked cockily.

tsukishima looked up briefly before his eyes returned to the item in akuma's hand.

"wild berry hibiscus?"

smirking, akuma tossed the tea to tsukishima.

"you know me. staying healthy is key."

tsukishima eyed the packaging, humming before tossing the tea back to akuma, finding himself shrink down at the eagle eyed stare akuma was giving him.

"don't think for a second anything has changed." akuma smirked before pushing tsukishima back harshly with his finger.

tsukishima winced in pain as his shoulder began to throb, hand coming up to rub at the sensitive skin beneath his shirt.

"see ya tomorrow, kei!" akuma called as he left, hand raised high in a victory sign.

tsukishima stared where akuma had just disappeared from, and he found himself beginning to breathe more rapidly, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

"tsukki!"

tsukishima hurriedly wiped at his tears, hoping yamaguchi wouldn't see how weak he was.

turning, tsukishima saw yamaguchi hurrying towards him, two different colored breads in his hands as well as some other little snacks in his arms.

"did you get the tea?" yamaguchi asked excitedly, arms tightening around the snacks.

"mhm." was tsukishima's short reply.

"what kind did you get?"

"jasmine chamomile."

yamaguchi's eyes widened as he took the package from tsukishima's hands, looking over it in surprise.

"you decided against strawberry? that's a first." yamaguchi muttered as he tossed the package back to tsukishima.

the pair walked to the register, occasionally picking up small trinkets and snacks on the way.

"thought i'd try something new." tsukishima admitted quietly as he looked around, hoping not to see akuma lingering around somewhere.

tsukishima quickly spaced out, wondering when the day would come that yamaguchi would stop wanting to be his friend.

what would happen if yamaguchi found out what had happened between himself and akuma?

would yamaguchi think he was weak?

what would happen if yamaguchi left him alone in a time like this?

tsukishima began to panic at the thought, knowing if yamaguchi left him now, he'd never be able to stand strong against akuma.

it'd be his middle school days all over again where he was friendless.

tsukishima felt a panic attack begin to creep up within him, and he knew he needed to calm down before he completely lost it.

"put your tea on the register, tsukki." yamaguchi whispered.

hearing yamaguchi's voice so small, concern and curiosity well evident within, calmed tsukishima down.

tsukishima sighed as he placed the tea on the register, feeling at bay all of a sudden.

"that will be 6,000 yen." the cashier said tiredly, his eyes adorning deep bags underneath his eyes.

tsukishima felt bad for him as he handed the man a crisp 10,000 dollar bill.

"tired?" yamaguchi asked knowingly, eyeing the man sympathetically.

nodding forlornly, the cashier smiled as he handed tsukishima the bags.

the boy couldn't have been a few years older than them, and tsukishima knew how tiring it could be to work at this hour.

"keep the change." tsukishima smiled softly.

the sudden smile on the cashier's face made tsukishima smile wider.

"thanks so much! have a good night." the boy did a total 180, and yamaguchi laughed in amusement as he smiled brightly.

after bowing lightly, tsukishima hurried from the shop giddily.

"he sure appreciated that, tsukki." yamaguchi said softly, smiling up to the taller male as they began their voyage home.

"i'm sure he did." tsukishima commented as he threw his arm over yamaguchi's shoulder.

"what do you think about akuma, tsukki?" yamaguchi asked as he looked up to tsukishima.

tsukishima immediately withdrew his arm from yamaguchi's shoulders, wondering why he would ask him a question like that.

"what i think of him? what makes you ask me that?" tsukishima asked slowly.

yamaguchi smiled before bashfully looking down to the sidewalk.

"akuma told me about you."

tsukishima's world stopped as his mouth gasped open.

what did yamaguchi know?

"what do you know? what did he say?"

"he said he went to school with you before. that you guys were really good friends and did everything together."

tsukishima snorted, finding yamaguchi's innocent statement crack him up.

"i suppose that's right." tsukishima said through grit teeth.

"yeah? what do you think of him too?"

tsukishima looked up to the stars, wondering why yamaguchi was so intent on finding this out.

"we were good friends." tsukishima lied, his fist clenching around the flimsy handle of the plastic bag.

"you're not being truthful, tsukishima." yamaguchi countered

that stopped tsukishima in his tracks. what more was he supposed to say?

he wasn't going to say the entire truth. that would ruin everything.

"akuma said you fell off. that something happened."

tsukishima felt as if he had been set ablaze, fury rushing through his veins.

he didn't bother thinking about what was about to fly out of his mouth by the time he turned on yamaguchi angrily.

"what's the big deal, yamaguchi? why does it matter so much? are you afraid i'm going to take him away from you or something? are you attracted to him? is that what this is all about?" tsukishima shouted, hands balled into fists as he towered over yamaguchi.

regret instantly flushed the anger away as he noted how yamaguchi seemed to shrink back, eyes widening with fear as he stepped away.

"n-no, i was just-"don't apologize. i was in the wrong. not you." tsukishima sighed, his hand coming to slip into yamaguchi's.

"it's just, i've noticed you've gotten pretty skittish when akuma comes around. i was just wondering if something had happened." yamaguchi said softly.

"no. i just don't like to socialize with people other than the team. and akuma seems to have gotten close to you already." tsukishima admitted.

"close to me? he doesn't want to be by me, he wants to be by you!" yamaguchi exclaimed.

tsukishima spluttered at the words, eyes widening.

"can we not talk about him? we're supposed to be hanging out, not gossiping about others that aren't even here."

yamaguchi heard the slight plea in tsukishima's tone, and he knew he best drop it in respect for his best friend.

"...alright."

the rest of the walk was in silence, and tsukishima thanked his Father above for a safe trip home.

stepping into the dark house, yamaguchi scurried off to turn on the lights while tsukishima made his way through the living room towards the kitchen to set the bags down.

"what are we watching first, tsukki?" yamaguchi asked before pain shot through tsukishima's eyes, the sudden bright light blinding him momentarily.

"..i don't know. pick something." tsukishima groaned, rubbing his eyes before looking through the cabinet to find a teapot.

"maybe mourning grave?" yamaguchi offered hopefully, a shy smile on his face as he held up the case to the movie and shook it slightly.

tsukishima shrugged as he filled up the teapot midway to the brim.

"what kind of movie is it?" tsukishima asked, carrying the teapot carefully to the stove and setting it down carefully.

"it's a horror movie. some of the people in our class have talked about it. they said it was really scary."

"that's fine. i've never seen the movie before." tsukishima commented casually before stepping away from the stove to unpack all the snacks they had purchased from the nearby 7-11.

"i knew you'd wanna watch it." yamaguchi said excitedly, popping the dvd inside the dvd player.

"how could i be excited? it's just a movie." tsukishima snickered before moving to sit on the couch beside yamaguchi.

"pass me some candy, tsukki. and shouldn't you be watching the tea? you know if you boil the water all the way, it's gonna taste disgusting." yamaguchi laughed.

"tch."

yamaguchi laughed at tsukishima's defeated tone as he took the mango pockys from him, hurriedly ripping open the box as tsukishima hurried over to the stove.

after taking two cups from the cupboard, tsukishima carefully poured the steaming water in.

"was it boiling?" yamaguchi asked curiously.

"nope."

tsukishima smirked as he dipped the teabags within the cup, draping the tag over the side.

"hurry, tsukki." yamaguchi playfully called, sounding as if his mouth was stuffed with food.

within minutes, the boys were huddled up on the couch, steaming mugs of jasmine chamomile tea in their hands.

tsukishima's eyes closed as he relished in the sensation of piping hot tea moving down his esophagus, the slight burn silencing the stress within him.

the taste certainly wasn't strawberry, but more of a delicate apple and jasmine scent.

tsukishima paused at the thought of it tasting slightly like apple, but he could definitely taste the slight jasmine within the cup.

"i think you picked very well, tsukki. this is probably the best tea i've ever had." yamaguchi praised, a soft smile hidden as he returned to taking small sips.

tsukishima smiled slightly in acknowledgement before he began to sort through the snacks on the floor below them.

the movie seemed pretty boring so far, and tsukishima sighed as he picked up a random snack container, hoping whatever it was tasted good.

"when's the movie gonna get good?" tsukishima grumbled as he tore open the flimsy lid on the small container.

"i don't know. a lot of people said it was gonna get good somewhere within the middle." yamaguchi spoke quietly as he chewed on some gummies.

as tsukishima glanced down to his snack, his nose was hit with this most pungent scent he had ever smelt. 

"do you smell that, yamaguchi?" tsukishima whispered, looking around to possibly grasp an idea of what could smell so foul.

yamaguchi thought for a moment before he realized a probable cause for the odd scent.

"what are you eating, tsukik?"

tsukishima's eyebrow's furrowed ya yamaguchi's sudden question, perplexed to what the question had to do with the current situation.

"i don't know. i just picked it up and started to eat." tsukishima commented confusedly.

yamaguchi sighed before he picked up the thin, plastic lid from the couch and looked over the top.

"you're eating nattō, tsukki. nattō always has a weird smell."

"it doesn't even-,"

tsukishima felt he was about to gag as he saw how the soybeans stuck together in clumps.

a thick, slimy goop ran down the soybeans, and tsukishima felt he was about to get sick.

yamaguchi giggled as he hurriedly took the slimy snack from tsukishima's shaking hands.

tsukishima immediately grabbed for his tea, bringing the slightly steaming beverage to his lips.

blowing on it once, tsukishima slowly lifted the brim to his lips and tilted the cup, the silky taste of jasmine coating his tongue once more.

"i swear this tea is my new favorite drink." tsukishima sighed dreamily as he took yet another gulp.

suddenly, a shrill scream emitted from the television, and tsukishima shrieked as he jolted.

yamaguchi started laughing as tsukishima's eyes directed towards the tv, widening as he saw a ghostly girl staring at towards an unsuspecting male.

"it's not even scary, tsukki. it's barely begun. and you're lucky you didn't just spill that tea all over yourself." yamaguchi snickered.

"maybe so."

silence overtook both boys as they watched on, getting a share of snacks every once in a while.

tsukishima felt himself swell with anger towards the bully in the movie, his fists clenching as he watched how she bullied a helpless girl.

tsukishima knew he could relate to the helpless girl, and he did, but seeing the girl lifeless, suspended in the air by a single rope made his eyes well over, fists clenching unbearably tight.

"i cant stand people that hurt others." yamaguchi grumbled, wiping at his own eyes before taking a bite of his peach bread.

"got me there." tsukishima hissed, shoveling a handful of gummy worms in his mouth.

he felt vengeful, and he couldn't help but feel a sick sense of content as he watched the main bully get killed by the angry spirit of the victim.

the vengeful mood dwindled away in a second as the thought of akuma wormed his way into tsukishima's head.

looking down towards his mug, tsukishima pressed his hands against the cup, the burn of the mug keeping tsukishima at bay from his worrisome thoughts of his tormenter.

"promise me something, yamaguchi." tsukishima blurted, his eyes staring deep within yamaguchi's.

"what's that, tsukki?" yamaguchi asked quietly.

"promise me we won't leave each other. if things get bad. no matter what happens." tsukishima urged.

yamaguchi paused, mouth opening slightly to ask why tsukishima could have said something like that.

"please don't ask me why i'm saying this, yamaguchi. please just trust me."

yamaguchi faltered before nodding his head, hands coming to wrap tsukishima's in his own.

"of course, tsukki. i owe you for what you did years ago, and if keeping this promise means paying you back for what you did, i'll keep it."

tsukishima smiled tenderly, leaning forward slightly.

"you've helped me too, yamaguchi. you've helped me not be so cold, and to be a better person. i know i come off as cold sometimes, but i love you regardless. i'll never hurt you."

yamaguchi smiled at the soft words, leaning forward to rest his forehead against tsukishima's.

"promise?" yamaguchi asked quietly, eyes widened in wonder.

tsukishima kept silent for a moment, admiring the little speckles in yamaguchi's eyes. it seemed as if stars were trapped within them.

"promise."


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kageyama joins the enemy.

petrichor

n.) the pleasant 

kageyama kept his head down as he searched the halls of karasuno high, looking very carefully for his person of interest. 

it wasn't hard. 

not really because after all, kageyama had grown up with the boy after all.

"kageyama, so nice to see you again. i was quite surprised to see you here when i transferred, though.”

the smooth voice made kageyama's skin crawl in excitement, turning to see akuma staring at him smugly. 

"and i you. what did you come here for, akuma?" kageyama asked carefully. 

akuma took the time to look down towards kageyama's attire, careful of what his words would be. 

"some unfinished business." 

kageyama smirked in reply before his mouth slowly stretched into a grin. 

"with who?" kageyama asked with a fake sweetness that would make anyone gag, yet to his childhood friend, akuma loved it. 

"is it that hard to tell? i know it's not obvious but it shouldn't be hard." akuma giggled. 

kageyama chuckled as he nodded, pushing up imaginary glasses with a wink. 

akuma snickered slyly and nodded. 

"you were always one to catch on quickly, kageyama." akuma sighed as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and began to to trudge up to his next class. 

"what are you planning to do, akuma?" kageyama asked before sipping on his milk, the creamy taste making kageyama want to close his eyes as he walked alongside his childhood friend. 

"make him suffer." 

eyebrows raised, kageyama turned to akuma in surprise. 

"how?" 

akuma turned to kageyama with an ugly smirk. 

"don't worry about that. but be sure of one thing, i'll make sure he feels it deep. he won't even see it coming." 

kageyama chuckled lowly as he nodded in agreement. 

"let me help." kageyama spoke determinedly. 

akuma gasped in surprise, stopping his tracks completely. 

"let you help? what would you have against him that would want you to get involved?" 

kageyama thought for a moment before turning, an ugly smirk on his face. 

"like you said, don't worry about that. we know what we're doing, now let me help." 

akuma looked thoughtful before grinning once more, "if you insist, kageyama." 

-

hinata hurried down the hall towards the cafeteria, yachi by his side carrying a big tray of cookies in her hands. 

coach ukai had planned a celebratory meal for the team's ongoing success, and the meal itself was something the entire team had been looking forward to. 

"are you excited hinata? i heard there's gonna be all kinds of dishes!" yachi exclaimed ecstatically. 

"i sure am." hinata laughed jovially, speeding his feet up to break into a light run. 

yachi laughed as she began to run alongside hinata, cradling the tray in her hands protectively. 

pushing open the doors to the cafeteria, hinata nearly ran into kageyama. 

"watch where you're going, boke!" kageyama chastened playfully as he carefully took the tray from yachi. 

hinata gasped at all the food along the table, the cookies kageyama set down looking like an minor asset to the massive feast in the middle of the table. 

"the headmaster said we had an hour and a half to eat up, so let’s hurry and eat!" ukai spoke happily before he returned to conversing with takeda. 

"isn't this just great, hinata? all this food. this is the best thing the coaches have done for us. i bet it was really expensive too." sugawara spoke, his pearly whites on display from how wide he was beaming. 

students that weren't part of the team eyed the huge meal in envy, their lackluster lunches nothing compared to the heavenly scents coming from the team's feast. 

the team soon began to eat, laughing and enjoying their meals.

"i'll be right back, i need to go do something real quick." kageyama whispered to hinata before hurrying away. 

"okay." hinata muttered before turning to yamaguchi with a smile. 

"tsukishima isn't here yet. is he coming?" 

yamaguchi turned to hinata, sipping on his milk with a nod. 

"yeah. he said his teacher had to keep him after for some academic matter. apparently his perfect average had fallen two points, and that's concerning. at least to the teacher since he’s one of the highest performing students here.” 

hinata laughed before a familiar face was seen across the cafeteria.

"tsukishima! over here!" 

tsukishima turned in surprise before smiling lightly, carefully bobbing and weaving his way through the cafeteria to get to the team's table.

"told you he was coming." yamaguchi laughed heartedly before taking a mouthful of rice. 

suddenly, there was a loud clatter. 

silence swept across the cafeteria, all eyes aiming towards the same spot. 

tsukishima was on the ground, the school lunch splattered across his clothing and strawberry milk hair. 

tsukishima seemed to be in shock, eyes widened as he stared down in shock at his hand covered in mushed up food. 

he seemed to be in denial as he looked up, mouth falling open as he stared up to the table behind him. 

"i'm so sorry!" 

hinata recognized the voice as akuma's, and he found himself leaning over to get a better look at the boy.

noticing akuma's attempts not to laugh, hinata quickly realized it wasn't an accident. 

fists clenching, hinata glanced back towards his own team, feeling the annoyance within him grow stronger at their own attempts not to laugh. 

"it's not funny." hinata scolded before picking up several napkins and getting up, storming over to tsukishima. 

shooting a glare towards akuma, hinata kneeled down and began wiping tsukishima's face down. 

tsukishima looked startled to see hinata, his eyes shining with tears of humiliation. 

"it's okay." hinata mouthed to him as he stood, gently tugging tsukishima up with him. 

"let's get you cleaned up." hinata said tenderly, lifting tsukishima up slowly by his forearms. 

"i-i'm sorry." tsukishima muttered, cheeks flushed red in embarrassment.

"it's alright. it's not your fault." hinata sighed as he made his way to the cafeteria door. 

just as the two were about to exit, hinata heard his name being called.

glancing over his head, hinata felt surprised to see akuma and kageyama racing towards him. 

"let us take him. it's only fair we help him clean up because we had an accident." kageyama spoke in concern. 

"i'm perfectly capable of going with hinata, thanks." tsukishima spoke up quickly, shooting kageyama a hot glare. 

"we insist. it's only fair." akuma sighed. 

tsukishima looked down to hinata for backup, but he began to panic as he saw hinata's torn expression. 

"i suppose you're right. finish quickly though, we have a meal that's getting cold." 

hinata glanced to akuma in suspicion before nodding towards kageyama. 

tsukishima began to panic as akuma took him by the hand and began to drag him towards the boy's bathroom, hinata disappearing from his sight as he went back to the cafeteria. 

"you're in for quite the treat, tsukishima." kageyama snickered as he pulled the door open. 

"i second that." akuma giggled before shoving tsukishima in the bathroom. 

tsukishima winced as he landed on his bottom, hands nervously wringing together. 

"it's nice you have at least one friend that likes you. not sure how long that's going to last." akuma spoke lowly before locking the door to the bathroom. 

"he won't leave. you don't know him." tsukishima bit back. 

"but yamaguchi isn't here. what were you saying again?" kageyama snarled. 

tsukishima flushed as he realized yamaguchi indeed wasn't present, but he wasn't about to put the blame on him. 

"he didn't know. you can't blame him." tsukishima near shouted as he tried to get up. 

"no you don't." akuma cackled as he shoved tsukishima back down. 

"give me a hand, kageyama." 

the smirk kageyama had on his face scared tsukishima, and he found himself trying to scramble away. 

akuma pulled out a bottle of some kind of sauce, a carton of eggs, and flour. 

the items were familiar to tsukishima's eyes. 

"you need to know that by the time kageyama and i are done with you, you're going to be a friendless loser." akuma smirked before he dumped the bag of flour over tsukishima's head. 

gasping, tsukishima tried to brush the white powder from his clothes and winced when he felt something slimy slide down his back. 

"i’ve always liked my eggs scrambled." kageyama snickered as he crushed an egg over tsukishima's head. 

yolk slid down tsukishima's face as he tried his hardest not to start crying. 

"oh tobio, you wouldn't want to eat the supposed eggs after you see what's coming." akuma snickered as he pulled a water bottle filled with a deep yellow substance and lightly tipped it over. 

tsukishima gasped once more as a warm liquid began pouring down his head and back. 

"you weren't lying." kageyama cackled as he smeared the sauce across tsukishima's hair and face, knowing the pungent scent wasn't going to come out easily if rubbed in.

tsukishima's fists clenched as the two boys stepped back and admired their work. 

"let this be a lessen to you, tsukishima. this is going to be your everyday life now. i don't care if you don't like it. ruining your life is just too much fun." akuma spoke smugly.

kageyama chuckled when he saw a single tear run down tsukishima's face, and he knew exactly what to say to finish the kill. 

"don't expect yamaguchi to save you. because at the end of the day, no one could ever want to be your friend." 

akuma cackled as he took out his phone and snapped a picture of tsukishima. 

suddenly, tsukishima found himself laying on his back, his nose throbbing painfully. 

he realized kageyama had just kicked him in the face. 

"yikes." akuma laughed.

"come out when you smell better, friend." kageyama said tauntingly before stepping away from tsukishima, akuma in tow. 

the door slammed shut, signaling tsukishima was alone. 

tsukishima couldn't believe what had just happened. 

did kageyama really just turn on him? 

tsukishima could understand kageyama may have not liked him, but did kageyama hate him so much he'd join the enemy in a pursuit of torment? 

tears began to fall down tsukishima's face as he realized he couldn't possibly go back to class smelling like this. 

slowly getting up, tsukishima carefully made his way to a mirror, and he gasped as he saw blood slowly making its way down his nose. 

he certainty wasn't going to class now. 

looking to his phone, he sighed as he saw he had only an hour minutes of class left, and he knew he'd miss the celebratory feast. 

going home and coming back wasn’t an option. 

carefully making his way through the halls of karasuno, tsukishima knew he was going to stink up the halls if he didn't hurry soon. 

picking up the pace in consideration of his classmates, tsukishima broke into a quick run to leave campus. 

the sun above beat down upon tsukishima as he ran down the sidewalk quickly, feet pounding upon he asphalt as he hurried on. 

his pace as quick as ever, tsukishima reached his house in no time.

as he tore open the door to his house, tsukishima thanked the One above that no one was home. 

tsukishima didn't bother taking off his shoes as he ran upstairs to the bathroom.

tsukishima held in his gasp as he stared at his reflection, not caring of the food smeared across his face, his eyes trained on the blood pouring from his nose. 

it wasn't until he realized the front collar of his shirt was overridden with blood did he realize how truly light headed he felt. 

tsukishima hurriedly turned on the sink before resting his head against against the cold marble of the edge of the sink, his hands cupping water within them. 

tsukishima shivered as he washed the blood from his nose, wincing at the tenderness of his and watching how the water slowly turned from a watered-down deep ruby to a pale pink. 

after washing his bloodied face, tsukishima slowly stripped of his foul scented clothing, wincing at the dull ache within his muscles and the light discoloring along his torso from his harshly akuma had shoved him. 

what was the point in trying to keep things under control? 

it was inevitable that things would come crashing down if they hadn’t already. 

everyone would leave. 

his friends. 

his family. 

yamaguchi...

would yamaguchi leave him? 

tsukishima stared at himself in the mirror, his mind going blank as the thought washed over him. 

he stared at his body, thinking what he had done to deserve his torment. 

his upper lip began to tremble as he began to shake, head slowly bowing in defeat. 

his body began to shake as he tried his best to hold back his sobs. 

“what could i have ever done?” tsukishima mouthed silently, the dam keeping his emotions at bay breaking as he began to sob heavily. 

the world seemed to hate him. 

but that was okay. 

tsukishima hated the world right back.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a look at the past and akuma sets a trap.

_n.) a state of isolation or seclusion_

_tsukishima wiped at his eyes, his hands burning with chemical residue._

_"well hurry up! you made the mess, now you clean it up. if this isn't done by the time i come back, i'm giving you detention for the rest of the week!"_

_tsukishima's science teacher cracked the ruler down upon tsukishima's back, hissmall, bruised body lurching forward as he let out a pain filled cry._

_he could practically sense the teacher's smirk as she stepped out of the room, slamming the door shut to go gossip about random students in the break room._

_small tears leaked out of tsukishima's eyes as he eventually began to scrub furiously at the graffiti on his desk, slurs of all kinds written on his desk._

_the teacher didn't care for punishing the one who had written the words on his desk, but she did care for punishing tsukishima since he didn't know how to make the bullying stop._

_if it was written for him, he was the one who had to clean it up, not akuma._

_tsukishima let out an seething cry, angrily throwing his sponge down._

_"absolutely pointless." tsukishima whispered to himself._

_"tsukishima?"_

_tsukishima whirled around to see akio staring at him, eyebrows drawn together in concern._

_"what are you doing in here? i was waiting for you at lunch yesterday! you never showed up." akio pouted._

_"i...cleaning up yesterday's mess took longer than i thought it would." tsukishima forcefully chuckled, wiping his eyes hastily as he glanced back towards the graffiti on his desk._

_the words were faded, just about no longer visible._

_the coast was clear._

_"alright..."_

_tsukishima looked towards akio , unsure of where this conversation would possibly go._

_for the longest time, akio had been cruel to tsukishima._

_akio was known by all to be akuma's best friend, so why he was suddenly hanging out with the school outcast was a question to many._

_"let's hurry!" akio cheered, holding up two bentos to be consumed._

_tsukishima beamed, feeling appreciation for the boy who had once aided in making his life a living hell who was now treating him like he was a real friend._

_the two boys hurried to the cafeteria, pushing open the doors to reveal the cafeteria in hushed silence._

_sweat nervously pooled down tsukishima's back as akio pushed him along, eyes wandering nervously at every blank stare._

_"don't mind them. they’re just complete imbeciles." akio snickered as he sat down on a sturdy bench._

_tsukishima laughed quietly, taking his bento carefully from akio's hands._

_"um..i just realized i need to go do something. i'll be right back." akio muttered as he set his bento beside tsukishima and hurried off._

_tsukishima watched in surprise as akio practically jogged out of the cafeteria, painfully aware he was now alone._

_glancing around, the eyes locked on him made tsukishima feel anxious._

_tearing his eyes from the crowd and back to his bento, tsukishima opened the box with shaky hands and cringed when he knew his appetite was gone._

_"a little birdie told me you'd be here."_

_tsukishima looked up in shock as he saw akuma standing in front of him uninterestedly._

_"a-akuma!" tsukishima stammered nervously._

_"finally decided to come eat lunch today. where do you spend it every other day? hmm? purging everything up in the toilet?" akuma snickered, folding his arms across his chest._

_“n-no.” tsukishima said weakly, wincing when he heard how pathetic he sounded._

_“and what makes you think you have the right to sit at my table?" he asked, smirking as tsukishima tried to think of a reply that wouldn't result in his inevitable demise._

_"i-it was empty-" tsukishima tried, but akuma suddenly laughed loudly, causing tsukishima to flinch again._

_akuma suddenly slammed his hands on the table before leaning in to look at tsukishima with those piercing eyes that seemed to see through tsukishima’s soul._

_"i don't care. every table in this damned cafeteria could've been empty, but that doesn't give you a right to sit in any of them." akuma sneered before calling for akio._

_tsukishima felt hope spread through his body, knowing akio wouldn’t possibly turn against him._

_tsukishima was akio’s friend._

_cackling, akuma watched as a hand wrenched tsukishima’s blond hair within its hold._

_tsukishima gasped in surprise as his head was jerked violently to face the tormenter._

_betrayal was all tsukishima could feel, eyes beginning to tear up as he stared up at akio._

_“you really thought i was your friend?” akio hissed lowly, mouth curled into a dark sneer._

_a lone tear descended tsukishima’s cheek as he decided to tell the truth._

_“i did.”_

_akio’s eyes widened for a moment before composing himself, his eyes narrowing into tiny slits and fists hardening to an iron grip in tsukishima’s hair._

_“well you thought wrong.” akio snarled._

_tsukishima gasped as akuma and akio suddenly lifted him out of the chair he was in, barely having any trouble even with his struggling._

_other students were beginning to notice and they laughed, phones coming out to record again. it was a typical sight, but never at lunch time._

_tsukishima tried to break free from their holds, but they were so tight, fingers likely bruising his skin from how harsh they were._

_it was anything but gentle._

_it was raw and ruthless- no empathy or sympathy behind the acts they performed._

_suddenly, tsukishima was thrown into a trash can, his bottom sinking in a bit as his arms and legs dangled, straining to hold himselfup._

_tsukishima thought that was the end of it, but akuma was never done that quickly._

_there had to be something more. something funnier than just this._

_"step right up, ladies and gentlemen! everyone gets a free chance to throw food at the hungry boy!" akuma called out, and that was that._

_that was all it took before food began to get flung at tsukishima from all angles, different meals hitting him all over._

_curry from here, tempura from there, soup right on tsukishima’s face, chocolate milk drenching his shirt._

_it was all so much to tsukishima._

_stinging his eyes, falling into his mouth, and covering his face._

_tsukishima would cry, but he couldn't. he was too busy flinching at the impact of food hitting him._

_it was dish after dish covering him up, some people even getting so comfortable with it as to throw their whole food tray at tsukishima._

_finally, after what seemed like an eternity to tsukishima, the bell to get to class rang._

_lunch was over._

_tsukishima figured he was a mess and probably smelled worse than he looked._

_how would he walk into class like this?_

_everyone would see and laugh._

_tsukishima’s peers began leaving the cafeteria, high fiving one another and laughing about what just happened._

_tsukishima heard a few camera snaps as some people took pictures as tsukishima looked down, trying his best to hide his face from the camera as he felt tears pool in his eyes._

_tsukishima wanted to cry, but akio and akuma were still here._

_akuma walked up to tsukishima, smiling super friendly._

_too friendly._

_akuma gave tsukishima a mock look of sympathy as he lifted his chin, seeing tsukishima’s eyes beginning to water._

_“aww, don't worry, tsukishima.” akuma smirked at tsukishima before placing a banana peel right on top of his head._

_“there. now you've got your crown. happy ruling." akuma called before chuckling and walking away with akio._

_tsukishima stared after the duo, his heart effectively shattering._

_tsukishima hurriedly picked up his things and ran from the cafeteria, tears falling down his cheeks._

_glancing briefly behind himself, tsukishima cringed at the mess lining the floors._

_he was leaving a trail of distasteful looking food behind him, and his cheeks burned at the sound of faint laughing around him_.

-

yamaguchi frowned as he watched tsukishima hurry away as soon as the bell to lunch rang.

sighing, yamaguchi slowly put his things in his backpack and tried to think of every possible reason tsukishima could have been shying away from him.

yamaguchi realized quickly that hinata was in front of him, and he hurried forward to ask hinata the question pondering in his mind.

calling for hinata, yamaguchi sighed in relief as hinata turned, a polite smile on his face.

“hi, yama. what’s up?”

“do you think something’s wrong with tsukishima? he’s been acting very odd as of lately, hinata. i wonder if something’s wrong.” yamaguchi asked nervously.

the question caught hinata off guard, and he thought back to what had happened yesterday lunch.

“i’ve noticed, and can i be honest with you and promise you wont get mad?” hinata asked slowly.

yamaguchi eagerly nodded his head, eager to know what could be causing tsukishima to act like this.

hinata paused before taking yamaguchi’s wrist in his palm, hurrying off to the roof.

“i don’t think it’s best if i tell you where someone could hear what i’m going to tell you.” hinata explained as he hurried up the stairs and opened the door to the roof.

“sure.” yamaguchi obliged as he stepped after hinata onto the roof.

after shutting the door and looking around, hinata sighed and turned to yamaguchi.

“i think it has something to do with akuma.” hinata said truthfully, hands wringing together nervously.

yamaguchi instantly opened his mouth to protest, because there was no way that was possible, until he realized that hinata could possibly be right.

“what do you mean, hinata?” yamaguchi asked slowly.

hinata sighed, shaking his head in annoyance.

“i think akuma might be doing something to tsukishima to make him react like he has been.” hinata explained.

yamaguchi’s eyes widened as he felt disbelief wash over him.

“no way.”

hinata took a step back in shock as yamaguchi’s face morphed into annoyance.

“you said you wouldn’t get mad.” hinata said flatly, placing his hands on his hips.

“i’m not!” yamaguchi shouted, throwing his hands in the air.

hinata gave a pointed look before shaking his head.

“you know, i forgave tsukishima for what he did. is that what this is about?” hinata asked.

yamaguchi’s features softened as he truly thought back to the moments akuma was around tsukishima, and he realized hinata might be right.

“no. and i’ll talk to tsukishima and akuma. i want to know the truth as much as you do.” yamaguchi spoke assuredly .

hinata nodded in gratitude before taking out his bento and offered to share a portion with yamaguchi.

shaking his head with a nod, yamaguchi have hinata a small smile before taking out his phone and texting akuma.

_can i see you by the bench in front of the cherry trees? i need to talk to you._

after sending the text, yamaguchi made his way towards the front of the school, his eyes looking up to the sky.

yamaguchi’s phone dinged.

i’ll be there.

the closer yamaguchi got to his chosen destination, the more nervous he became.

what if hinata was right?

yamaguchi didn’t want to think of akuma as someone who was cruel, but he expected akuma to tell him the truth of what was going on.

“hey.”

the familiar voice spooked yamaguchi, and he whirled around to come face to face with akuma.

“hey. i just have a question that i need to ask, and i need you to be honest.” yamaguchi said slowly.

akuma nodded hesitantly, stepping forward slightly.

yamaguchi closed his eyes, mentally preparing himself of what he was going to say before opening them slowly.

“i don’t want you to take this personally, akuma. but i’ve noticed that tsukishima has been acting very strange as of lately. someone told me that you may have something to do with it, and i’m in no way accusing you, but i need to know, have you been doing something that is causing tsukishima to act the way he has been?”

yamaguchi mentally pat himself on the back for how professional he sounded, but his self-appreciation was cut short as he watched how akuma’s calm face morphed into distrust.

“are you asking me if i’m bullying him?” akuma’s voice was low, his eyes narrowed as he glared hotly at the shorter male.

“no, i already told you i wasn-“i understand what you’re saying. and i understand your concerns, but i assure you i’ve done nothing to him.” akuma interrupted, making sure to tower over yamaguchi intimidatingly.

yamaguchi sighed unsurely but nodded.

“i need to talk to tsukishima next.” yamaguchi muttered.

“what for? i already told you i didn’t do anything.” akuma snarled, whirling around to face yamaguchi once more.

“i believe you! i-i just need to figure out what’s bothering him.” yamaguchi offered hurriedly, hoping to appease the taller boy.

akuma stared down at yamaguchi before a slow smirk spread over his face.

“why don’t you let me go figure it out? if it’s because of me, i should go to him so we can sort it out together. alone. and we can lay the problems to rest.” akuma spoke in fake optimism.

yamaguchi blinked in surprise, immediately going to decline the offer but the pleading look in akuma’s face made yamaguchi decide otherwise.

“alright.”

akuma smiled a widely, a full cheshire cat smile on display.

turning, akuma began to run back towards the school, his core burning with excitement at the thought of tsukishima’s waiting demise.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the fall of tsukishima and yamaguchi’s relationship.

peril

n.) serious or immediate danger

tsukishima kept his head down as he slowly ate his sashimi, the salmon in his mouth practically falling apart.

the spice of the wasabi burned his mouth, yet he couldn't find the heart to bother acting upon it.

his mind was locked on what he was going to do considering his unfortunate situation.

what was he supposed to do about akuma?

tsukishima looked up towards an empty bookcase as he heard the door to the library open, knowing he was about to be tormented somehow once more.

"what are you here for, akuma?" tsukishima asked quietly.

a faint chuckle was heard before tsukishima heard footsteps coming towards him.

"you will do as i say."

tsukishima chuckled at akuma's forceful tone, shaking his head as he turned to stare at the male standing before him.

"and if i don't?" tsukishima challenged.

akuma smirked, arms coming to slowly fold over his chest.

"i'll show everyone what you did."

tsukishima's eyes widened in surprise, his mouth parting slightly.

"you wouldn’t. you couldn’t." tsukishima stammered softly.

"oh, but i would. now listen carefully unless you want your secret to be out." akuma snickered.

tsukishima leaned forward slightly, heart heavy at whoever was going to suffer because of him.

-

yamaguchi jumped in surprise as he felt his phone vibrate in the middle of class, looking around nervously in hope of no one hearing.

when he could see no one staring at him, yamaguchi hurriedly pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced down.

_meet me at the roof. now._

yamaguchi blinked in surprise. did something go wrong with akuma and tsukishima talking alone?

glancing around once more to check if no one was looking, yamaguchi hurriedly confirmed the request.

_i'll be there._

quickly, yamaguchi told his teacher he was going to the restroom, thankful that the older woman didn't ask any questions.

hurrying to the roof, yamaguchi wondered what tsukishima was about to say.

pushing open the door slowly, yamaguchi peaked his head outside the door, the cool air stinging his nose.

"tsukki?"

yamaguchi looked around until he saw tsukishima standing by the edge of the roof, hands deep within his pockets.

"yamaguchi."

tsukishima's voice was faint, laced with pain as he turned around.

yamaguchi gasped as he saw how dead tsukishima looked besides the appearance of tears falling down his cheeks.

"we can't be friends anymore, yamaguchi." tsukishima said quietly.

yamaguchi felt like he had been slapped, his eyes widening as he staggered back.

"w-what?"

tsukishima's face morphed into anger at the confusion splayed across yamaguchi's face, fists clenching.

"i said we can't be friends anymore! what is so difficult in what i said to understand?!" tsukishima shouted.

yamaguchi's lip trembled as he blinked tearfully up at tsukishima.

"um..everything. i don't understand why you don't want to be my friend anymore." yamaguchi admitted.

tsukishima's face hardened further as he let out a cry of frustration, hands coming to yank at his hair.

"akuma told me what you said about me." tsukishima hissed.

if yamaguchi hadn't been stunned before, he couldn't believe what he was hearing now.

"excuse me? what did i supposedly say about you?" yamaguchi asked defensively.

"that i'm a freak! that i've been acting to strange for too long. i know you haven't liked me for a while, but you didn't have to talk to people about me behind my back!" tsukishima cried.

yamaguchi felt anger sweep through his body, feeling like he had been dunked in an icy bath at the outrageous claim.

"and you actually believe that? after everything we've been through? where is all this crap coming from?" yamaguchi hissed.

tsukishima's eyes narrowed as he shoved yamaguchi back.

"don't act like i'm oblivious."

yamaguchi felt heat spread through his face as he grit his teeth, hands coming to ball into fists.

"why would akuma say that i said that about you?" yamaguchi challenged.

"because he enjoys making my life a living hell! he'd do anything to make me suffer!" tsukishima screamed, rounding in on yamaguchi, eyes blazing with uncontainable heat.

yamaguchi felt the heat within his body vanish within an instant, an icy feeling running through his veins.

"you think it hasn't been easy having him here? he bullied me the entirety of my childhood! and now he's here again, intentionally screwing things up! and he wants you by his side so he’ll know i’m defenseless!” tsukishima cried defeatedly.

yamaguchi stayed silent, unknowing of what to do.

"i...i don't know what to say, tsukki." yamaguchi muttered.

it dawned on tsukishima that yamaguchi didn't think he was telling the truth.

"you don't believe me?" tsukishima asked brokenly, his heart feeling sorrow deep within.

"i...," yamaguchi began slowly, "...what you said about akuma just doesn't add up. there's no way akuma could have ever hurt you. i mean, cmon tsukki, you know better than to lie. if anything, i'd be the one that gets bullied. you're too cold and rude for anyone to even think of bullying you. personally, i-"you're not my friend." tsukishima interrupted coldly.

yamaguchi's eyes widened, mouth dropping slightly.

"everything has to be about you, doesn't it? poor yamaguchi and your tragical tale of woe. nobody's more hurt than you, yamaguchi. you win." tsukishima snarled, hands coming to yank the thin piece of his necklace chain off his neck.

"i didn't think you'd ever choose the enemy, yamaguchi. but i was wrong. we are not friends. you broke your promise, and now you expect me to live with the fact that you turned against me.”

choking back an angry sob, tsukishima threw the necklace upon the ground and ran, letting his feet take him wherever they wanted to go.

_yamaguchi was just like the rest of them. he leaves me alone when i need him the most._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know this one is pretty short, but i felt it was kinda necessary. thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tsukishima is abandoned.

_truculent_

_adj.) overly aggressive; eager to fight_

akuma tried his best to keep the smug smirk off his face as he stepped onto the roof, beginning to whistle lowly as he came face the sight he was hoping to see.

yamaguchi was sitting near the edge of the roof, his legs tucked tightly underneath him as he looked across his peers leaving campus to go home or go spend time together.

"yama? what are you doing there?" akuma asked quietly, making sure to keep his voice soft.

"me and tsukishima aren't friends anymore." was yamaguchi's broken reply.

akuma closed his eyes a moment, one hand clenched in a tight fist.

he basked in the excitement of hearing tsukishima had done what he was told.

opening his eyes quickly to keep up the act, akuma opened his mouth to "console" yamaguchi before the next words out of yamaguchi's mouth made the words he was about to utter get caught in his throat.

"tsukishima said you were behind all of his pain. that you were the reason he's been so off. that you bullied him. that you're a liar."

akuma's hands slowly unraveled into a relaxed position.

akuma appeared to be calm, but within, he was burning with anger and hatred.

so he decided to snitch on me?

"and you believe him....?" akuma began slowly, approaching yamaguchi warily.

"i...no." yamaguchi had turned to stare akuma in the eye, tear tracks staining his paled skin.

akuma didn't know whether to feel relieved or suspicious at the revelation, but he knew he would truly have to have yamaguchi on his side if he was going to do anything else to tsukishima.

"why? you said he was your best friend? why not believe him?" akuma asked carefully as he moved to sit down beside yamaguchi.

"it doesn't make sense. why someone as sweet as you would do something so low." yamaguchi muttered.

akuma involuntarily flushed, looking down at his hands.

"even if you don't believe him, i promise you he's lying. he was always the type that wanted attention back in middle school. i only ever tried to be his friend. he never liked me." akuma said in fake sadness, rubbing his hands together.

yamaguchi kept silent as the tears that had momentarily paused came back.

"i-i just don't understand." yamaguchi sobbed wetly as he buried his face in his hands, trying his best to muffle his cries.

for the first time, akuma slowly felt pity and empathy spread within him, and he found himself moving closer to pull yamaguchi close to him.

"it's okay, don't worry. you don't need him. i'm here for you. your team, your friends, your family. all of us." akuma whispered into yamaguchi's ear, his hand coming to stroke the little hairs on the bottom of yamaguchi's head.

yamaguchi kept silent as he continued to cry softly into akuma's neck, his hands wringing the fabric of akuma's uniform between his fingers.

akuma's chin rested upon yamaguchi's head as yamaguchi cried, his arms squeezing akuma's sides tightly.

a few minutes went by before yamaguchi pulled away, wiping at his swollen red eyes.

"i need to get to practice. it's best if the captains know what happened. things won't be the same. at least not for a while." yamaguchi sniffled.

"that's right. i think we should hurry too. better for you to tell them as sooner then for tsukishima to tell them lies later. we wouldn't want that now would we, yama?" akuma's voice dripped with sweetness like honey, but the thoughts of hurting his enemy proved his intentions otherwise.

"i guess not." yamaguchi mumbled as his face reddened, the tears that had momentarily paused began their descend once more.

yamaguchi was about to start crying again.

"hey, don't cry. how about this, i'll go down and tell them if you're uncomfortable. i'll take care of it." akuma suggested hopefully, his hands squeezing yamaguchi's.

yamaguchi stared into akuma's eyes with much uncertainty, sniffling irregularly before shaking his head in disagreement.

"no...i think...," yamaguchi trailed off before sighing.

"maybe you should come with me."

that statement had akuma raising his eyebrows in surprise, his mouth falling open partially.

"alright." akuma said slowly.

wiping hastily at his eyes, yamaguchi pushed himself away from akuma and stood up on shaky legs.

"careful there, yama." akuma chided playfully.

yamaguchi just shook his head, grabbing his messenger bag and threw it over his shoulders.

"let's just get this over with. i'm sure you have places to be." yamaguchi sighed before moving to leave the roof, akuma staring after him.

"checkmate." akuma muttered under his breath as he began to follow him, his mind racing in preparation for his next move.

-

tsukishima watched emotionlessly as hinata squealed, kageyama lifting him over his shoulder as the hinata clung to the taller boy tightly.

"apologize, hinata boke." kageyama snickered as he began carrying him around the gym.

"never! put me down!" hinata laughed as he wriggled around in kageyama's grasp.

"not until you apologize." kageyama snorted, resulting in being smacked upside the head by the shorter boy.

tsukishima looked away when he heard sugawara call his name, wondering what he could have possibly done to get the team mom to want to talk to him.

_i bet he was told what happened._

the thought made tsukishima panic as he walked over to sugawara, mind desperately thinking of what to say.

sugawara seemed to notice his nervousness, his mouth stretching into a soft smile.

"i noticed that you've seen a bit spaced out. did something happen?"

tsukishima began to tear up at the softness in his senpai's voice, feeling comforted for the first time in a while.

"i'm alright." tsukishima muttered, wiping hastily at the tears forming in his eyes.

sugawara gasped in alarm, hands hesitantly lifting up to stroke tsukishima's cheek when the sound of doors opening made everyone jump in surprise.

tsukishima bit his lip nervously, fear fueling his senses as he felt heavy dread wash over him.

yamaguchi and akuma had just walked in, and tsukishima knew things were going to get ugly soon.

sugawara took one look at yamaguchi's red rimmed eyes and tsukishima's swollen face and came to one conclusion.

_"they must have had a fallout. especially if yamaguchi is here with that other boy...",_

"we need to talk to whoever is in charge here!" akuma declared, eyes looking around the gym in search of a captain.

"what is it we can do for you?" sugawara heard daichi speak up as he stepped away from scolding hinata and kageyama.

"there's been a rift. yamaguchi has been traumatized, and someone here is responsible!" akuma spoke boldly.

sugawara glanced towards tsukishima, his thoughts being confirmed as he saw tears were flowing down tsukishima's face, the blond haired boy beginning to take small steps away from sugawara.

"don't run." sugawara whispered.

tsukishima's chest heaved as he shook his head rapidly, pushing sugawara's hands away from him.

"no. i need to go." tsukishima pleaded.

sugawara reluctantly let go of tsukishima, knowing things were about to get worse for tsukishima.

tsukishima locked eyes with yamaguchi in a panicked glance, yamaguchi's own eyes widening in shock as tsukishima grabbed his things and ran, deserting the scene.

akuma glanced after tsukishima, a low growl of "coward." leaving his lips.

"woah woah woah. what's going on? what happened?" sugawara asked worriedly.

"tsukishima hurt yamaguchi!" akuma spat, his eagle eyes darting towards yamaguchi to confirm his accusations.

the silence heard around the gym made yamaguchi want to hide himself away, but he forced himself to hold on to the little dignity he had left.

"yes. it's true. he hurt me." yamaguchi said quietly.

"how did he hurt you, yamaguchi?" sugawara asked, slowly walking forward and pulling yamaguchi away from akuma.

before yamaguchi could even open his mouth, akuma began to go on a full rant.

"he said lies about me! he told yamaguchi that i bullied him in his childhood and i was only here to hurt him! that i don't care about anyone!" akuma snarled.

"is he lying, though?"

a familiar voice asked, yamaguchi turning to see tsukishima standing in the doorway, hands crossed across his chest.

he had come back for reasons sugawara didn't know.

though tear tracks stained his cheeks, tsukishima appeared angry.

"that's all you ever did when we went to school together years ago. and it seems you're back to your lying ways as well." akuma sneered.

"or maybe you just wanted yamaguchi to say that. you're the liar." tsukishima scoffed, raising an unimpressed eyebrow.

"please. don't drag yamaguchi into this. you're the one that did this." akuma sniffed judgmentally.

"why don't we let yamaguchi say what happened. he's the one that was hurt." kageyama said slowly.

tsukishima turned to look at kageyama, growing hotter at the innocent look on the milk addict's face.

"i must say i agree. yamaguchi? is what akuma is saying true?" ukai spoke up.

"you know the truth! yamaguchi, why won't you just believe me? i'm willing to forgive you for what you did, but you know that what he's saying isn't true." tsukishima pleaded.

yamaguchi's eyes widened, shocked at what tsukishima had just said.

"you're willing to forgive me? but i didn't do anything wrong to you. you're the one who told me we couldn't be friends anymore." yamaguchi said.

"because you believed the enemy! you'd rather choose someone over me that you've known for only what, a month?!" tsukishima yelled.

yamaguchi visibly bristled, stepping forward and gritting his teeth.

"you really expect me to believe that?!" yamaguchi shouted.

"yes! i do! you're my best friend, yamaguchi! why would you not believe that? how could i possibly lie over something so serious?!" tsukishima shouted back.

"because it makes no sense! no one would ever hurt you! no one!"

"so you think i'm a liar?!"

"tsuk-"

"just shut up! you've made your bed, now lie in it! i came here to negotiate! to give you one last chance to accept what i was saying, but it's clear you're as ignorant as everyone else here." tsukishima growled.

"tsukishima kei! is that anyway to talk about your senpais?" sugawara began to scold hesitantly.

"oh shut up! none of you believe me! just say it! say it! i'm done with this! i'm done being accused of something i didn't do, i'm done being labeled as a liar, and i'm done having a crappy best friend!" tsukishima shouted, his eyes burning as he turned on akuma, marching straight up to him.

"and you! you want to win? well you win! i'm done being your pawn. i'm not going to bother trying to defend myself anymore. it's over. i'm done with all of you." tsukishima roared, shoving akuma away from him with a heaving push.

akuma tripped over his feet as he tried to collect himself, landing on the ground with a hard thud.

a loud crack sounded from akuma's wrist, tsukishima's eyes widening at the horrifying sound.

akuma stared down at the battered limb on his lap, his eyes staring at his wrist with no emotion.

"you broke my wrist." akuma said dumbly, his eyes slowly trailing up towards tsukishima.

instantly, kageyama and yamaguchi knelt next to akuma, yamaguchi taking akuma's wrist in his hands.

kageyama turned to hinata, a panicked expression on his face.

"you need to get to the infirmary for ice."

just as hinata was about to take off, akuma quickly voiced his disproval.

"no. we can all go together."

"we can all go together?" hinata said in surprise.

"moral support." akuma grinned cheekily, showing no pain in his face from having his wrist broken just moments ago.

slowly nodding in hesitant agreement, the three boys helping akuma up from the floor and shielded him from tsukishima's gaze.

hinata turned back to look at tsukishima, his gaze nothing short of disappointment.

shame slowly crept up tsukishima's spine, knowing he had just made things worse for himself.

no one would ever leave them now, would they?

"i think you need to leave, tsukishima." sugawara commented, his voice void of emotion.

"but i-"i'm not telling you again, tsukishima kei. leave." sugawara spoke once more, an angry edge appearing in his voice.

tsukishima winced at sugawara's heated tone, noticing how sugawara's entire body was shaking in uncontrollable anger.

"why can't-"after what you just did tsukishima, i don't know what to believe. you should go."

tsukishima's eyes filled up with tears as he took a hesitant step towards sugawara, one last silent plea.

"get out of here."

the dam holding tsukishima's emotions together broke as he began to sob freely, gasping for air as he dropped to his knees.

"please don't do this. i didn't mean to hurt him." tsukishima begged.

he felt as if his dignity had been stripped from him as he begged pathetically on the floor, leaning down to rest his forehead upon the gym floor as he sobbed helplessly.

"you've abused our trust. like you said, you made your bed. now lie in it. don't make this harder than it has to be."

tsukishima slowly got up, sniffing weakly as he glanced towards all the remaining members of his team, taking in the sight of their cold faces.

tsukishima knew this was the last time he was going to see them for a while.

he had lost he battle.

now he had to suffer the consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tbh, I’m not sure I like this chapter at all....but it is what it is. Thanks for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hinata doesn’t believe what akuma had said, but after a shocking confession, he doesn’t know what to believe anymore.

_perfidious_

_adj.) deliberately faithless; treacherous; decietful_

-

hinata laughed half heartedly at akuma's joke as he picked at the food in his bento, his mind focused on a single thought.

_is akuma telling the truth? we never truly did let yamaguchi explain...he could have just been forced to go along with what akuma told him to say..._

glancing up towards yamaguchi, hinata immediately ruled out that thought from how close yamaguchi and akuma seemed to be.

akuma was holding a piece of sashimi to yamaguchi’s mouth, both boys giggling as yamaguchi eagerly took a bite.

"akuma..." hinata began unsurely, eyes hesitantly gazing into the raven haired boy's.

"what's up, hinata?" akuma said cheerfully, leaning forward slightly.

"...can you tell me again what happened between you and tsukishima? it's...kind of hard to believe just from how close i thought we were."

akuma raised an unsurprised eyebrow, beginning to laugh softly.

"why don't you let yamaguchi tell the tale. i'm not the real victim."

"he's the one who broke your wrist. i'm not saying you've suffered more than yamaguchi, but don't you think it's pretty obvious what your saying is true? only a real psychopath could do something like that." kageyama said with a scoff, rolling his eyes.

"well yeah, but he wasn't my best friend. he was yamaguchi's." akuma said dismissively.

yamaguchi sighed, rubbing at his temple.

"he just said that i was a terrible friend for not believing something that was a lie. that i was a crappy friend and he was done being associated with a bug like me."

"ouch. and you guys saw the rest." akuma said with a sly smile, holding up his broken wrist.

"i never knew we had such a monster on the team. good riddance." kageyama snuffed before picking up a piece of fried prawn from his bento and moving it towards hinata's mouth.

hinata hummed, eyeing the piece of meat kageyama offered him before opening his mouth, kageyama easing the meat inside his mouth.

"thank you." hinata muttered as he chewed, his eyes scanning across the cafeteria for his senpais.

"oh! there's suga-san and daichi-san! we can have them join us!" hinata exclaimed after swallowing, his eyes turning towards kageyama in excitement.

"that's a good idea." akuma said warmly, "why don't you call them over to have lunch with us?"

kageyama nodded in agreement, standing up and calling for the older members.

before hinata knew it, everyone on the team apart from tsukishima were seated at the table, laughing and joking around with akuma and each other.

kageyama glanced towards hinata, a small frown forming on his face from how spaced out he seemed.

tapping hinata's knee gently with a single finger, kageyama smiled gently when he got the shorter boy's attention.

"are you okay...?" kageyama asked quietly as he picked up another rice ball and held it to hinata's mouth.

hinata took a bite of the rice, nodding silently as he chewed.

"do you want to go somewhere else to talk about it if there really is something wrong..?" kageyama asked comfortingly.

hinata seemed to pause, swallowing slowly before furrowing his eyebrows.

"..please."

kageyama nodded firmly before leaning over to akuma and whispered something in his ear, hinata not missing the way akuma's eyes snapped up to meet his.

hinata looked down from akuma's gaze and flushed, his hands wringing together.

"let's go." kageyama whispered, his fingers wrapping around hinata's arm and began pulling him up.

hinata silently let kageyama pull him away, his eyes trained to the floor as he desperately tried to think of a way to correctly word what was on his mind.

_there's something off about all of this...i know something's not right._

kageyama pondered over the possibility of hinata not believing what akuma has said, silently fretting over the possible outcome.

pulling hinata into the bathroom, kageyama locked the door and sat on the edge of the sink, looking over hinata with concern. 

"so..what's bothering you, hinata?"

hinata looked up guiltily, a unsure look on his face.

"i..i don't believe akuma. i just can't accept tsukishima doing something like that." hinata said softly.

kageyama's concerned face turned emotionless, his eyes empty voids.

"i know that what akuma says seems hard to believe, but you saw what tsukishima did to him. tsukishima is clearly unstable, and whatever yamaguchi says must be true too. yamaguchi doesn't lie."

hinata's eyebrows furrowed at kageyama's forceful tone, shifting his weight from hip to hip.

"it just doesn't make sense. there's no way-"and i'm telling you that feelings are never accurate. akuma and yamaguchi are clearly telling the truth." kageyama interrupted.

hinata clenched his fists, baring down on his teeth as he stared up at kageyama in defiance.

"i don't believe you. i will not believe you. tsukishima is innocent. i will never, ever conform to the beliefs of someone who has barely been here a month. i will not." hinata growled quietly.

kageyama's eyes darkened as he stepped towards hinata when the sound of a stall door unlocking sounded in the room, both boys flinching in surprise as they whipped their heads towards the creaking door.

"don't bother..." tsukishima said softly as he stepped out of the stall, dried tear tracks lining his cheeks as he sniffled.

"..tsukishima?" hinata asked timidly.

kageyama was fuming, beginning to step forward to push tsukishima back when tsukishima held up a single hand.

"don't. i'll confess."

kageyama halted in his tracks, eyes drawn open in surprise for a moment before his eyes narrowed, lips drawing up into a sneer.

"to everything?" kageyama snarled.

tsukishima did not falter, his eyes holding nothing more than bitter defeat.

"yes."

hinata's eyes widened, his mouth parting in shock.

what?

"i had told those lies, but so what? i made those lies up about akuma because i don't like him. in fact, i don't like the thought of any of you even associating with him. he deserves to be alone. he deserves all the pain in the world. he deserves to die for even living. for existing. but that's not my problem anymore, is it? it would have been funny to watch him fall apart. unfortunately, i was caught. i did lie about akuma bullying me, because i was jealous about how close you seemed to b-,"

a loud crack sounded through the bathroom, tsukishima's skin beginning to throb.

eyes widened, tsukishima slowly lifted his hand to his cheek as he realized hinata had just slapped him.

angry tears were shining in hinata's eyes as he trembled violently.

"we trusted you. we all trusted you. we took you in. yamaguchi took you in. akuma hadn't done anything. you're just a liar. you're disrespectful, you're slacking, and you're unreliable! it's always been us coming to you, it's always been us putting in more effort and i'm sick of it! you've never done much to prove yourself and you're expecting us to just forgive and forget? if you think for one second that we're getting fooled by you again, then think again because over my dead body will we ever be friends again. you're a horrible human being, tsukishima kei. i hope you're happy." hinata snarled.

kageyama's lips curled up as tsukishima teared up again.

"but-,"

kageyama threw the hardest punch he could muster up towards tsukishima's windpipe, knocking tsukishima backwards with a staggered wheeze.

hinata couldn't find it within himself to sympathize, his nose curled in distaste as tsukishima laid battered on the floor, hand clutching his throat as he shakily tried to catch his breath.

"let this be a lesson. lie to us again, you'll get worse. now stay out of our sight." kageyama growled before turning, grabbing hinata by the wrist and led him away from the bathroom.

fury spread over hinata like a wildfire, the touch of his best friend only heightening his anger.

"get off of me!" hinata snarked.

kageyama flinched as he turned to see that hinata had angry tears in his eyes, his entire body trembling in fury as he yanked himself away from kageyama.

"i can't believe it. i trusted that fool enough to give him a second chance, and he threw it back in my face. i never want to see him again." hinata huffed as he stormed down to the hallway towards the cafeteria.

kageyama kept to himself, a small smiling spreading across his face.

after entering the cafeteria once more, kageyama wondered if akuma was going to make hinata snap.

"kageyama! hinat-"he's not in a good mood." kageyama mouthed hurriedly, pointing to hinata.

akuma's eyes widened as he looked towards the shorter boy, frowning slightly at the obvious anger in hinata's features.

"hinata? what's wrong?"

hinata was on the brink of an anxiety attack as he forced himself between akuma and sugawara, fists clenched as he pulled at his hair.

"we did everything for him. and do you know what he did? he threw our trust in the trash." hinata spat.

akuma's eyebrows raised, gesturing for hinata to continue.

"i didn't believe you at first, akuma. i'll admit it, but you know what he told me? i can't even say it. i'm just so..so upset! how could he have lied to us so severely?" hinata began to sob quietly, burying his face in his hands.

"you're talking about tsukishima.” akuma said knowingly.

hinata nodded, leaning into sugawara's embrace as sugawara combed his fingers through hinata's hair.

"it was about time the truth came out." akuma said softly, pausing at the wet sob emitting deep within hinata's throat.

"no..he was such a nice friend. i just..did we have a monster on the team the entire time?" hinata looked towards sugawara questioningly, his lip trembling.

"can you..can you watch him? i need to talk to kageyama.” akuma asked almost pleadingly.

"do what you need to do." with sugawara's clipped reply, akuma sensed the elder was still angry over the betrayal of one of the youngest crows.

akuma nodded towards kageyama as he got up from his seat, his mind coming up with different scenarios.

biting his lip nervously, akuma turned to kageyama expectantly once they reached a spot far from the cafeteria.

"tsukishima did something unexpected." kageyama whispered.

akuma snorted, his arms folding across his chest. what could tsukishima have done?

“and what was that?” akuma challenged.

“he admitted to all of it.” kageyama said quietly.

akuma’s mouth parted, unable to believe what he had heard.

“I thought he would put up more of a fight, it’s not like him to just admit to something that’s a lie. not unless there’s a reason behind it. he may be planning something.”

kageyama could sense the unease in akuma’s voice, smirking at the thought of having the upper hand for once.

“i have something to show you..it could ruin him.” kageyama smugly.

eyebrow raised, akuma felt curiosity bloom within his chest as he stepped forward.

“let me see.”

kageyama smirked before pulling out his phone, beginning to scroll through it furiously.

“you’ll be so happy..he won’t stand a chance.” kageyama whispered huskily before tapping one last time and turned the phone towards akuma.

the screen oddly was pitch black, akuma wondering what this could possibly be when voices flooded through the phone.

_"i had told those lies, but so what? i made those lies up about akuma because i don't like him. in fact, i don't like the thought of any of you even associating with him. he deserves to be alone. he deserves all the pain in the world. he deserves to die for even living. for existing. but that's not my problem anymore, is it? it would have been funny to watch him fall apart. unfortunately, i was caught. i did lie about akuma bullying me, because i was jealous about how close you seemed to b-,"_

kageyama smirked as he turned the phone off just as hinata had slapped him, shoving the device back in his pocket.

“with some clipping, this is perfect bait.”

for the first time in his life, akuma was speechless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this one isn’t that good towards the end, but I decided to put it up anyway..thanks for reading!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukishima is an outcast.

atelophobia

  
n.) the fear of imperfection or not being good enough; an extreme fear of failing to achieve perfection in any of one's actions, ideas, or beliefs

-

yamaguchi leaned against his locker as he waited for akuma to finish putting his books away, his mind unable to pay attention to a word akuma was saying.

his eyes were locked on the violent sangria colored bruise lining tsukishima's throat as the blond walked slowly into his first class, wondering what had happened.

_did he get in a fight?_

"earth to yamaguchi?" akuma said teasingly, an eyebrow raised in amusement.

yamaguchi snorted, rolling his eyes as he tore his eyes from the open classroom before pushing akuma back gently.

"yamaguchi is present." yamaguchi mocked snarkily, his mouth curling up into a smirk.

"good to hear. also, i heard something interesting is going to happen in first period. we better get to class." akuma chirped smugly, batting his eyelashes flirtatiously.

"don't do that." yamaguchi laughed as he pushed away from the locker and began to walk towards his first class, akuma throwing an arm around yamaguchi.

students eyed the pair almost enviously, the relationship between akuma and yamaguchi being a close one despite just how recently akuma had arrived.

they seemed like the perfect pair of best friends.

akuma noticed this as they passed their peers in the hallway, smirking as he tightened his grip around yamaguchi.

if it meant keeping up an act to finish what he had come here to do, he'd befriend anyone.

his task ment that much to him.

-

tsukishima struggled to breathe as he gripped the edge of his desk, his mind on overdrive.

he was in the middle of a full blown panic attack, gasping for air quietly as his classmates paid no attention to him.

the sound of footsteps approaching made tsukishima cower into himself, desperate on not being noticed.

three pairs of feet were in front of his desk, serving only to heighten tsukishima's anxiety.

"go away..please go away." tsukishima whimpered.

"no one wants to see you beg for attention, and if you're so desperate for it, go to the nurse and let her fret, because no one else is going to bother worrying about you."

the voice was painfully familiar, tsukishima peaking out from his arms and his eyes widening into saucers as he realized hinata had just spoken the hateful words.

"i..-"what happened?"

one of the popular girls who loved to gossip sitting near tsukishima piped up, her eyes drilling into hinata as if she was begging to hear more.

"oh? you didn't hear? just you wait."

tsukishima sunk down in his seat, fingers wrenching the fabric between his fingers tightly.

the school's pa system cut on as if on cue, and the sound of rustling filled the classroom from the speakers above.

"unfortunately, i'm saddened by the sudden realization that one of our so called close friends has been lying to us."

horror spread through tsukishima as he gasped, recognizing kageyama's voice through the speakers in an instant.

"now..allow me to show you what tsukishima kei is truly like. it shocked even me when he confided in me over this, and even if he wanted it to be kept in secret, i still believe you all deserved to know the monster he that is within karasuno's golden boy."

mummers were heard around the class as it became silent for a moment, the panic in tsukishima's stomach nearly boiling over.

"so we're really about to see the real you, huh tsukishima? i've been waiting for this day for a long time. it took awhile, as it's no secret i'm a slow learner. but the thing is, i do learn." yamaguchi scoffed.

tears trailed down tsukishima's face as he realized he had been set up, his bottom lip caught between his teeth as his own voice flooded the room through the speakers.

"i had told those lies, but so what? i made those lies up about akuma because i don't like him. in fact, i don't like the thought of any of you even associating with him. he deserves to be alone. he deserves all the pain in the world. he deserves to die for even living. for existing. but that's not my problem anymore, is it? it would have been funny to watch him fall apart. unfortunately, i was caught. i did lie about akuma bullying me, because i was jealous about how close you seemed to b-,"

shame slowly crawled into tsukishimas as silence was the only thing heard around the classroom as his own words voiced through the speakers, his eyes gazing intently at the desk before him.

"wow..who knew tsukishima was such a fake?" akuma mocked, his arms crossed against his chest.

"why did you do this...?" tsukishima's lip began to quiver as he stared up at akuma.

"who cares why he did this? you've been caught, tsukishima kei. no one is ever going to fall for your lies again."

the girl who had spoken up earlier said with a smirk.

tsukishima grabbed his things and hurried out of the room, mentally unable to deal with the torment he knew he would face if he did stay.

you said those things to protect yourself...

and your teammates...

a house divided cannot stand.

a pack of wolves cannot serve two pack leaders. a pack like this would quickly be torn apart.

tsukishima understood confessing to a lie was not the smartest thing to do, but he understood his teammates safety would be on the line regardless.

tsukishima knew akuma would stop at nothing to make sure he completed what he came to karasuno to do, and he knew that the only way to keep them safe was to go along with what he had said.

the only problem was, most of them had believed akuma without even caring to see his side. and he did understand that when he hurt akuma, it would seem as if akuma was telling the truth, but it inevitably did hurt when he was shunned.

had he done all of this for nothing?

tsukishima felt anger seep deep within his veins, his fists clenching as he continued walking to the nearest bathroom.

he had sacrificed his pride for them.

he was going to be practically destroyed and for what, teammates who didn't care about him?

they may have believed akuma without second thought....but i still protected them regardless of what they believe.

-

"i...honestly didn't think he was like that. i didn't see it coming...none of us did."

the atmosphere at lunch was tense and forlorn, no one on the karasuno volleyball team able to truly comprehend what had just been revealed.

though hinata and yamaguchi had been snarky to tsukishima, they were still uneasy about the realization over what tsukishima was truly like.

"i know...but it's best that we see the truth now. no ones knows what would have happened if the truth hadn't been discovered." 

akuma sat in silence, listening to his new friends bask in self-pity and unbelief.

he had never met such a pathetic bunch.

sympathizing over someone who betrayed them wasn't something he was fond of, and he found himself growing irritated listening to them sulk.

"i just can't beli-"can we just get to the point? he was a lair. a deceiver. a trickster. there's no point in moping over someone who lied to your faces." akuma huffed.

"i know...and i know you don't want to hear it, but put yourself in our shoes-"i have. i was the one who dealt with him in elementary and middle school. you've only seen a glimpse of what i had to go through." akuma spat.

silence spread across the table as akuma's fists clenched, unable to hide his discomfort.

"you know akuma, you may have exposed the truth to us, but don't expect us to support you if you're just like tsukishima. none of us will stand for it."

akuma turned to see yamaguchi staring at him coldly, barely contained disgust splattered across his face.

"i wasn't-"just watch your mouth. no one here is any better than the other. we don't need another person like that here."

"yamaguchi!"

sugawara looked horrified at yamaguchi's biting words, unable to sit back and watch his kohai talk down to another.

yamaguchi lowered his eyes as his lip began to tremble, gasps heard around the table as he sniffled.

"i'm sorry..i just....i just can't." yamaguchi whimpered as he began to cry earnestly, burying his head in his hands.

"i'm sorry..i shouldn't have put myself on the pedestal above all of you. you're the one who was hurt the most...because you trusted him the most." akuma soothed, his own voice wavering as he moved to place an arm on yamaguchi's back.

yamaguchi continued to weep silently into his arms as everyone else in the cafeteria talked hatefully of the absent blond.

"no." yamaguchi said wetly as he turned his head to stare coldly towards akuma.

"none of us is more wounded than the other. we don't need pity from anyone. we discovered the truth. and i'll be damned if we let anyone else do the same thing to us. never again. i may have known him, but apparently not enough. i won't let that change me and my morals, and it shouldn't change anyone else's."

the determination in yamaguchi's voice lifted up everyone else's spirits, akuma smiling wildly as he knew he had the volleyball team on his side.

"i have an idea," akuma began slyly, smirking mischievously as he caught the attention of the other players, "i know it might be kind of mean..but-"it doesn't matter what it is. he messed with the wrong bunch. we'll do whatever you have in mind." hinata interrupted boldly.

glancing around the table, akuma's heart swelled with pride as he knew he was the one in control now.

"so be it."

-

tsukishima had his head held high as he walked the halls of karasuno to his first class, not missing the angry glares and hateful words called his way.

he knew people would hate him for what he believed was right, but he couldn't care.

"fake."

"attention seeker!"

"leave karasuno!"

"no one wants a loser here! leave!"

tsukishima grit his teeth as he kept walking, his fists clenching tightly as he forced himself to ignore the words.

he knew this would happen.

"and all for the people who didn't care." tsukishima whispered bitterly to himself.

of course, it was inevitable that when he confessed to a lie so great that no one would want anything to do with him, he just didn't believe it would have come to this.

his classmates quieted themselves as he walked in the classroom, his eyes locked on akuma who was sitting upon his desk.

tsukishima forced the panic that was fighting to make an appearance back down his throat, unable to find the nerve to flee.

he would face the battle now.

"what's up, traitor boy?"

tsukishima grit his teeth as he ignored akuma, unsure of how to get akuma off his desk.

".....can you get off?" tsukishima asked quietly.

"why should i, tsukishima?" akuma huffed nonchalantly, smirking as he crossed his legs.

"careful. he might attack you again, akuma. might break a leg or worse." hinata spoke up, an ugly smirk on his face as he twiddled a pencil between his fingers.

tsukishima glared at hinata fiercely as he snorted.

"and aren't you too stupid to be in this class? you haven't passed a test in your life, you said it yourself."

eyes widening for a moment, hinata looked at tsukishima in surprise before snorting, his head shaking.

"i learn."

"is that all you're here to do, tsukishima? talk down to your superiors? make us feel like the scum you are?" kageyama's voice rang out from behind tsukishima, effectively startling the blond.

"you're my superiors?"

tsukishima mockingly laughed at the foolishness in kageyama's statement.

"uh, yeah. trash like you has no place in this school. you're at the bottom, and never work your way back up to the top." kageyama sighed nonchalantly before sitting down in a desk beside hinata.

tsukishima bit his lip as he slowly turned back to akuma, feeling as if he was unwanted.

it was no secret he wasn't.

"look..can you just move?"

tsukishima couldn't bring it in himself to regret how pathetic he sounded as he pleaded with akuma, his hands nervously wringing together as he silently begged akuma to listen to him.

akuma knew this, raising an unimpressed eyebrow.

"pathetic."

a weak exhale left tsukishima's mouth as he nodded in gratitude when akuma lifted himself from the wooden surface, smirking to himself as he sauntered up to his own desk and sat down.

"look at him...so pathetic."

tsukishima did his best to tune out the barely-whispered words that bit at his self esteem, his resolve slipping as he sat down in his desk and pulled out his notebooks for class.

can this day get any worse..?

-

yamaguchi sat in silence, staring at his phone as akuma's plan pondered in his mind.

"yamaguchi will text the traitor to meet him in the bathroom...kageyama, hinata, and i will go in and do the rest! it's perfect!" akuma cheered, clapping excitedly.

"it's genius! he'll never mess with us again after we teach him this lesson!" noya agreed ecstatically.

"oh noya, he's not getting only one lesson. the rest of his days here are going to be filled with lessons. i'll make sure he regrets what he's done." akuma said snugly.

"should i really do this?" yamaguchi asked himself, knowing what would happen if he went though with this would be nothing short of bullying.

i know he lied to us and i know he played me the entire time..

did tsukishima ever see yamaguchi as a friend?

though yamaguchi was furious with tsukishima, he still hoped in his heart that while tsukishima was nothing but a liar, tsukishima viewed him as an authentic friend.

sighing in frustration, yamaguchi leaned back as he stared emotionlessly at the graffiti filled wall in the abandoned class room, his mind weighing his options.

i _can do this and get revenge..._

_or don't do this and be labeled as traitor too._

yamaguchi would never be like tsukishima and he knew within his heart that he would do anything to prove it.

pushing away any remaining hesitation, yamaguchi unblocked tsukishima and quickly typed out a message before he could change his mind.

_meet me in the abandoned classroom. we need to talk._

pressing send, yamaguchi sighed as he knew what would happen.

"he might think i'm going to yell at him." yamaguchi thought worriedly, his fingers quickly typing another message in hopes of bettering the chances of tsukishima's arrival.

_i'm not mad at you._

yamaguchi cringed at the lie, physically wincing at how unbelieving that sounded.

with the way you acted towards him, he's going to know.

yamaguchi tried his best not to panic as he waited impatiently for tsukishima to reply, his foot jumping involuntarily.

the phone eventually began to buzz, yamaguchi drawing in a staggered breath as he realized tsukishima was calling him.

hesitantly pressing accept, yamaguchi lifted the phone to his ears as he listened intently.

"...you wanted to see me?"

yamaguchi's heart sank at the familiar voice of his former best friend, all bitterness and anger set aside as he clutched the phone tightly.

"yes. in the old abandoned classroom where we used to-"i don't want to hear about our old memories, yamaguchi. you want to talk about something, so i'm on my way."

the phone call abruptly ended as yamaguchi tried to explain he wasn't trying to reminisce on the past, feeling slightly attacked by tsukishima's forceful tone.

yamaguchi quickly texted akuma that tsukishima was on his way, akuma immediately replying with a sharp "keep him busy. i'll be there in 10."

breath slightly ragged, yamaguchi sat on an old desk and waited for a moment, unsure of what he would do to keep tsukishima busy until akuma's arrival.

the sound of abrupt creaking made yamaguchi flinch, his head whirling around as he caught sight of the door slowly opening.

yamaguchi blinked, feeling nothing short of breathless as he stared at the person he once longed for.

tsukishima had slipped through the door and was now standing before him, his eyes cold and unforgiving as he stared right back at yamaguchi.

"what did you call me her for?"

tsukishima's voice seemed so timber, yamaguchi unable to fathom where he had heard tsukishima like this.

"i just...i needed to speak to you-"about my supposed betrayal? i did you a favor." tsukishima spat fiercely.

"you did me a favor?" yamaguchi's sorrow was whisked away instantly as his eyes narrowed.

"yeah, i did." tsukishima challenged.

"so lying to me the entirety of our friendship and hurting akuma is doing me a favor? how does that make sense, tsukishima? how?" yamaguchi scoffed.

tsukishima's eyes hardened as he stepped forward.

"i protected you. i'm not here to explain myself, because what's done is done, but you should consider yourself lucky that i confessed to it."

yamaguchi's lip curled up into a sneer as he jutted out his chin, stepping forward till both boy's noses were nearly touching.

"if you think i'm ever going to be friends with someone who loves to manipulate people and fakes friendships with people who genuinely like the manipulative being, you're wrong. i'd rather die than be associated with a liar like you."

tsukishima's eyes widened as he looked down at yamaguchi in disbelief, the shorter feeling as if he had stood his ground before his pride was demolished as tsukishima busted out laughing.

"you don't understand just how wrong you are, yamaguchi. but like i said, i'm not going to defend myself. i did my job. i did what i was supposed to do. and i know why you called me here. i know about akuma's plan to put me in my place. how, you may ask? there's a so called traitor among you. but you shouldn't worry about that now, should you? it's not like you would care anyway. you checkmated me. now you're just going to watch what happens next."

yamaguchi felt breathless as the door to the classroom swung open, akuma whistling lowly as he walked in.

"you're such a bother, tsukishima. it gets boring after a while." akuma sighed as he kicked the door shut with his foot.

"same to you, akuma. so should we just get this over with? i already know what you're about to do. drag me to the bathroom, spray beer in my face and drink the rest over my head, and dump a bucket of water over my head and leave me there. sound familiar?" tsukishima mocked.

akuma raised a surprised eyebrow, tilting his head as he stared curiously at tsukishima.

"and who told you that, tsukishima? did you come up with that yourself?" akuma mocked.

tsukishima smirked, shaking his head as he crossed his arms.

"nope. one of your so called friends. but don't ask me to tell, it's our little secret."

akuma's lighthearted aura changed in an instant, his eyes darkening as he glared harshly towards tsukishima.

"you just keep telling yourself that. no one would ever help you, tsukishima. not after what you did. my boys are not traitors." akuma spat.

tsukishima simply smiled, his face softening as he whispered, "take your own advice, akuma. you're not as tight with them as you think."

yamaguchi stared wide eyed at akuma as the raven haired's face twisted in fury, his teeth gritting together as his hand wrenched tsukishima's blond hair within it's grasp.

tsukishima stayed silent as akuma began to beat him and throw him around, the silence from tsukishima serving only to heighten akuma's fury.

tsukishima's forehead was slammed against the firm oak of the desk, yamaguchi gasping as he ran to akuma, pleading for the angered boy to let tsukishima go.

"why should i? don't you want this?" akuma snapped as he dropped tsukishima to the floor, his face red and twisted in fury.

"you're going to kill him if you keep it up!" yamaguchi protested.

"so what?" akuma bellowed, his fists balled as he began to rain more kick down upon tsukishima's chest and stomach.

"i've spent so long just waiting for this moment, and i'll be damned if i let you take it away from me." akuma roared, his face flushed in uncontrollable anger as tsukishima began to snicker.

"that's right, akuma. keep it up. maybe the truth will come out."

tsukishima was bleeding profusely out of his nose, his eyes nearly closed as he beamed up at akuma.

"controlling your temper is key to controlling everyone here. so watch your back." tsukishima mocked.

yamaguchi had to physically restrain akuma as he trashed in his grip and cursed profusely at tsukishima, desperate to land one more punch that would make him go to sleep.

"he's not worth it! he's trying to get a rise out of you, akuma. don't give it to him." yamaguchi whispered in akuma's ear.

akuma had hot tears trailing down his cheeks as he tore himself away from yamaguchi, his entire body trembling in rage.

pointing a finger in yamaguchi's face, akuma struggled to catch his nerve.

"you better keep him away from me, yamaguchi. i swear i will kill him if he comes near me."

yamaguchi's jaw dropped momentarily as akuma stormed out of the room, unable to calm himself.

silence filled the empty classroom for a moment before light wheezing was heard, yamaguchi turning to stare in horror as tsukishima coughed up blood, spitting the metallic fluid on the floor.

"are you..?" yamaguchi couldn't even finish the sentence.

"do i look okay? what a stupid question." tsukishima chuckled, but the wetness of tears coming were evident.

yamaguchi felt torn as he stared down at tsukishima, the blond's face twisting in pain as he sat up.

sensing this, tsukishima shook his head and sighed raggedly.

"don't. just go. we are not friends, and nothing will change that. you've seen a glimpse of the truth, and i'll let you see the rest on your own."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for taking the time to read this fic, and I’m very happy to be here. This fic is also posted under the name “lil_pizza_girl” on wattpad, and I’m happy today I’m looking forward to the time I’m going to have with other writers and readers. Kudos to all 💞!!


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